Sponsors (109)
Official title: To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of Presidential power, restoring checks and balances and accountability and transparency in government, and defending elections against foreign interference, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 14, 2026 by Jamie Ben Raskin · Last progress May 14, 2026
The bill sharply increases transparency and enforcement to curb foreign influence, corruption, and misuse of executive power while also expanding criminal exposure, reporting demands, and expedited enforcement that could raise privacy, constitutional, national‑security, and administrative‑cost concerns.
Voters, taxpayers, and regulators gain much greater visibility into foreign contacts, payments to the President, inaugural and campaign donations, and online political ads through faster disclosures, ad‑transparency records, donation caps, and tighter reporting rules, reducing the risk of undisclosed foreign influence.
Taxpayers and the public receive greater accountability for pardons and commutations because Congress gets timely access to pardon‑related DOJ files and the bill creates a new bribery offense tied to pardons/commutations.
The public and Congress gain stricter limits on emergency executive authority and better fiscal transparency — presidents must specify authorities used, emergency powers terminate unless Congress acts, and the budget must disclose emergency expenditures by account.
Federal defendants, prosecutors, and ongoing investigations face heightened risk because the bill requires disclosure of grand jury and investigative materials and broader publication of OLC opinions, which could compromise confidentiality and active prosecutions.
Presidents, senior officials, presidential candidates, and potential appointees face expanded criminal and administrative exposure (new offenses, stricter emoluments/reporting rules, and tougher Hatch Act penalties), which could chill people from public service and invite legal uncertainty.
Several provisions (retroactive tolling of statutes of limitations, extending whistleblower coverage to the President/Members of Congress, and new criminalization of White House conduct) raise separation‑of‑powers and due‑process questions likely to generate litigation and constitutional challenges.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Expands congressional oversight, disclosure, and enforcement over pardons, subpoenas, campaign finance, OLC opinions, whistleblowing, Hatch Act violations, and personnel transfers.
Requires expanded congressional access to Justice Department materials after pardons in politically connected cases, creates a civil enforcement path for Congress to compel subpoena compliance, tightens campaign finance and nonprofit rules around presidential elections and inaugural committees, and strengthens whistleblower and Hatch Act enforcement across the executive branch. The bill also increases transparency for Office of Legal Counsel opinions, limits certain personnel moves into the excepted service, and adds reporting and oversight requirements for the Executive Office of the President and foreign contacts by campaign actors.