Today, Congressmen Andy Levin (D-MI) and Jason Crow (D-CO) led 63 colleagues in a letter to President Biden urging him to issue an executive order requiring large contractors to disclose their political spending after they are awarded a federal government contract.
Such bold action would provide Americans with the transparency needed to better understand how political donations may unduly influence elected officials. This move would go a long way to combat the perception, or in some cases, reality, of corruption due to large donations. The Congressional Progressive Caucus included such a recommendation as part of its executive action agenda for the Biden administration.
“Unchecked corporate political spending is contributing to average Americans’ reduced faith in government. Trust in government, which has been low for nearly two decades, is now at record lows,” wrote the lawmakers. “Chief among the reasons for this diminished trust is that people feel that the political system favors those who heavily fund political activity.”
“If the American people believe the government does not have their best interest at heart, then the institutions that act as guardrails for our way of government will atrophy,” the lawmakers continued. “Mandating disclosure of political spending by large federal government contractors is a tangible way for you to deal with undue corporate influence and repair the damage to our democracy caused by secret political spending. We urge you to take this step as expeditiously as possible.”
“President Biden could help to end the dominance of dark money in politics by signing an executive order requiring large government contractors to disclose their political contributions, said Tiffany Muller, President, End Citizens United/ Let America Vote Action Fund. “We’re thankful for Reps. Andy Levin and Jason Crow’s leadership in demanding action on this important issue.”
“Public Citizen applauds the leadership of Reps. Levin, Crow, and all the Members who co-signed the letter calling on President Biden to issue an Executive Order requiring large government contractors to disclose their political spending,” said Rachel Curley, Democracy Advocate, Public Citizen. “Voters overwhelmingly support transparency, and at this critical time for our democracy, we need to shine a bright light on how corporations and special interests spend money in politics. President Biden should issue this Executive Order immediately to bring secret campaign spending into the light.”
“As Congress authorizes record billions that will line the pockets of weapons makers, the president must take steps to reveal these federal contractors' political donations to the public. The quarterly earnings goals of defense corporations already skew U.S. foreign policy towards military-only solutions—we need to know how they expand their damaging influence through political contributions,” said Eric Eikenberry, Government Relations Director, Win Without War.
“Transparency in political spending is paramount, especially when the spending is done by those who are doing business with the government—and receive public contracts paid for by taxpayer dollars,” saidTaylor J. Swift, Policy Advisor, Demand Progress. “An executive order from the Biden Administration requiring the disclosure of contractor political spending promotes accountability, and helps create a federal government contracting process that is free from pay to play corruption and political favoritism.”
“Voters have a right to know which special interests, including large government contractors, are spending big money to influence our votes and our government. That is why an Executive Order mandating disclosures for large federal contractors is needed today,” said Trevor Potter, Founder and President of Campaign Legal Center and Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission. “Transparency in elections is a pillar of a vibrant, inclusive democracy, and the American people deserve to know that their tax dollars are not being funneled to a company simply because of that company’s political spending.”
This letter was signed by Reps. Aguilar, Allred, Barragán, Bass, Beyer, Blumenauer, Bonamici, Bowman, Brownley, Watson Coleman, Carbajal, Carson, Cicilline, Clark, Clarke, DeLauro, DeSaulnier, Doggett, Espaillat, Evans, Garamendi, Garcia (Chuy), Grijalva, Holmes Norton, Khanna, Krishnamoorthi, Jacobs, Jackson Lee, Jayapal, Johnson (Hank), Jones (Mondaire), Kilmer, Lee (Barbara), Lieu, Lowenthal, Lynch, Maloney (Carolyn), Meng, McCollum, McGovern, Nadler, Napolitano, Newman, Ocasio-Cortez, O'Halleran, Omar, Payne Jr., Phillips, Pocan, Porter, Pressley, Price, Quigley, Royal-Allard, Raskin, Rice, Sarbanes, Schakowsky, Speier, Takano, Tlaib, Wilson and Welch.
Original source can be found here.
