Overview  >  Programs  >  Clean Government and Accountability Act

Program 4: Clean Government and Accountability Act

ADDRESSES: GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AND DEMOCRACY

What the program does

1. Congressional stock trading ban

Bar members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff from trading individual stocks; require blind trusts or diversified funds. Popular in both parties, and a sign that the new majority holds itself to the standard it sets for others.

2. Executive branch ethics standards

Disclosure and conflict-of-interest rules in law for the president, vice president and senior officials, covering cryptocurrency and other digital assets, foreign payments, and private donations solicited for government projects.

3. Pardon reform

Because the pardon power is in the Constitution, a law can add transparency and penalties but cannot narrow the power itself. The legislative package: public disclosure of every pardon and commutation with its stated reason; registration of anyone paid to seek clemency, with a ban on success fees; and a clear criminal ban on offering or accepting anything of value in exchange for a pardon. A longer-term constitutional amendment would bar self-pardons and pardons in advance for a president’s relatives, staff and associates.

4. Restore congressional authority

Require a vote of Congress to extend emergency tariffs, update the War Powers Resolution with enforceable timelines for conflicts such as the Iran war, and protect inspectors general from removal without cause.

5. Election administration support

Steady federal funding for state and local election offices, paired with widely supported security measures. Pew finds broad majorities back expanded early voting, voting by mail and voter ID, so the package offers something to each side.

6. Disciplined oversight

Focused, evidence-led hearings rather than open-ended investigations. Investigations into the president were very important to only 36% of voters and 7% of Republican supporters, so oversight should center on costs, waste and abuse that touch voters’ lives.

Voter evidence on pardons

In an Economist/YouGov poll from December 2025, 58% of Americans said the president grants too many pardons and 56% favored amending the Constitution to limit the power. Specific pardons, such as one for a congressman charged with bribery, drew about two-thirds disapproval. Republicans oppose constitutional limits 45% to 34%, so lead with the bipartisan disclosure and anti-bribery measures. Recent presidents of both parties have issued controversial clemency, which supports framing reform as a rule for every future president.

Design options

The stock trading ban and pardon disclosure rules have the widest appeal and should move first. Executive ethics rules draw more partisan resistance. Every proposal should be framed as applying to future presidents of both parties.

How we will measure success

Passage of the stock trading ban within the first 100 days of the new Congress, and a measurable rise in public confidence in Congress from today’s 14% approval.

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What Voters Want 2026. Working analysis, November 2026. Figures from election-day and pre-election surveys; projections may change as counting finishes.