WASHINGTON- Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on Congress Tuesday to pass a bill aimed at ending the role of large corporate spending in campaigns and government, saying corruption has become an immense problem in Washington.
Speaking at the National Press Building, Warren warned against the “financial conflicts of interest” in political campaigns and government.
“This is not about big government versus small government, it’s about whether government works for the wealthy and well-connected or government works for the people,” Warren said.
Senator Warren speaks about her anti-corruption plan at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Warren called for Congress to put an end to lobbyists buying power in the government and to put it back into the hands of the people that get officials elected into office.
“The people understand that this government is not working for them and what I propose is the optimistic solution,” said Sen. Warren.
Specifically, her proposal would:
- Ban individual stock ownership by Members of Congress, Cabinet Secretaries, senior congressional staff, federal judges, White House staff and other officials while elected in office.
- Apply conflict of interest laws to the President and Vice President to sell off privately-owned assets that could be a conflict of interest.
- Require most executive branch employees to recuse from all issues that might financially benefit themselves or any previous employer from the past 4 years.
- Imposes a lifetime ban on lobbying by presidents, Vice-presidents, Members of Congress, federal judges and Cabinet Secretaries.
- Ban companies from immediately hiring or paying any senior government official
- Prohibit corporate outlaws from working in government by banning top corporate leaders from being hired if their companies broke federal law in the last 6 years.
- Ban direct political donations from lobbyists to candidates or Members of Congress.
She also focused on the midterm elections, saying voters need to elect representatives that will fight to end corruption in the government while working for the best interest of the people.
“Control of the House and the Senate, who is going to represent us is powerful,” she said.