
policy
Private: Ensuring the independence of inspectors general (IGs)
Loopholes in our system allow presidents to overreach and fire IGs for political or personal reasons, undermining the public’s ability to hold government officials accountable.
Preventing undue influence, corruption, and the appearance of corruption by elected officials, lobbyists, and members of the executive branch.
Too often, though, there is lax or no enforcement of ethics and lobbying laws in Congress and the executive branch.
Many Americans feel members of Congress, government officials, and lobbyists are above the law, using their positions of power for personal or financial gain. Such corruption — or even the appearance of corruption — has a corrosive effect on our democracy, undermining public confidence in the integrity of our most sacred institutions.
To win public trust in our government, it’s imperative we build — and enforce — stronger ethics, accountability, and transparency laws for Congress, the executive branch, and for lobbyists.
We:
Our impact:
ReFormers Caucus member Brian Baird quoted...
Issue One Legislative Director Elise Wirkus cited...
In the media
Story on our new ReFormers Caucus letter, signed by 37 former members, calling on Congress to ban representatives and their immediate family members from trading stocks while in office
In the media
Our “Fair Pay” report on low congressional staff pay continued to grab headlines as reporters covered the challenging environment facing many junior staffers on Capitol Hill. Founder and CEO Nick Penniman appeared…
In the media
Cites Issue One panel about banning congressional stock trading
Event Recaps
Conversation hosted by Issue One, National Taxpayers Union, and Project On Government Oversight also featured former Reps. Brian Baird (D-WA) and Zach Wamp (R-TN)...
Issue One joined today with the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) to host a bipartisan panel about why it’s time to ban stock trading…
In the media
Quotes Legislative Director Elise Wirkus on congressional stock trading
In the media
It was a busy start to the year for Issue One. Press highlights included the release of our congressional staff pay report, which was covered exclusively by Roll Call and also reported on by CNN, Politico, NBC…
Press releases
Issue One Founder and CEO Nick Penniman praised this week’s introduction of the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act by Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), which would ban…
Podcast episodes
In 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, otherwise known as the STOCK Act. The intent was to ban insider trading from members…
In the media
Quotes Issue One CEO and Co-founder Nick Penniman
In the media
Quotes Issue One Founder and CEO Nick Penniman on lobbying and dark money