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Attorney General William Barr speaks during a press conference on January 13, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders joined seven other Democratic senators on Friday in sending a letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding that the nation's top law enforcement official resign immediately for intervening this week to reduce the recommended prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump.
"A [Department of Justice] that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the president of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable," reads the letter. "You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren In addition to Warren and Sanders, the letter was signed by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
The letter came a day after Barr admitted in an interview with ABC News that he and other top Justice Department officials stepped in to overrule career federal prosecutors' recommendation of seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted last November of witness tampering and lying to Congress.
"I had made a decision that I thought was fair and reasonable in this case," said Barr.
Barr added in the interview that he is "not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody," referring to President Donald Trump's tweet early Tuesday calling Stone's initial sentence "horrible and very unfair."
"I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases," Barr said.
The senators wrote in their letter that Barr's rebuke of the president is "simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours."
In addition to demanding Barr's resignation, Warren, Van Hollen, Hirono, and Markey unveiled legislation Friday that would bar Justice Department officials appointed by the president from participating in matters related to "the president, his family, or his campaign associates."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple," Warren said in a statement. "This bill would use Congress' spending authority to protect the rule of law and prevent a corrupt attorney general from protecting the president's buddies when they commit crimes to benefit the president."
Read the letter:
Attorney General Barr:
We are writing to express our alarm about and opposition to the unethical political intervention of senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the case of Roger Stone, a former campaign insider and adviser to President Trump who was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation, lying to Congress, and tampering with a witness in connection with the investigation of Russian intervention into the 2016 presidential election. The interference in this case by you or other senior DOJ officials working under you is a clear violation of your duty to defend fair, impartial, and equal justice for all Americans. As a result, we call on you to resign immediately.
On Monday, February 10, the four DOJ prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case recommended a sentencing range of seven to nine years in prison. Mr. Stone was found guilty of lying to the House Intelligence Committee in the committee's investigation of the 2016 election and then threatening "bodily harm" to a witness who could have exposed these lies. In their sentencing memorandum, the prosecutors explained that "Stone chose--consciously, repeatedly, and flagrantly--to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans," and that "Stone's lies to Congress and his obstructive conduct are a direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." Shortly after news broke about the filing, President Trump tweeted that the recommendation was "a horrible and very unfair situation" and wrote: "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice."
Later the same day, Timothy Shea, the interim head of the U.S. Attorney's office, filed a new sentencing memorandum reversing the recommendation of the line prosecutors, stating that the initial recommendation of seven to nine years "could be considered excessive and unwarranted." Following this remarkable interference by senior DOJ officials, all four of the prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case withdrew.
According to press reports, "[t]he decision to override the recommended sentence was made by officials from [your office] and [Jeffrey Rosen,] the deputy attorney general." The day after DOJ's abrupt about-face, however, President Trump indicated that you were directly involved, tweeting: "Congratulations to Attorney General Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control," and you confirmed your direct involvement in an interview with ABC News yesterday.
This is an extraordinary turn of events. It appears to show that you and other top DOJ officials intervened in a clearly political fashion to undermine the administration of justice at the President's behest in order to protect a well-connected political ally who committed a "direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." It demonstrates that you lied to Congress during your confirmation hearing when you stated that you would "keep the enforcement process sacrosanct from political influence," and it reveals your unwillingness or inability to maintain the integrity of the DOJ and to uphold justice and the rule of law. While you asserted yesterday in an interview with ABC News that you were "not going to be... influenced by anybody," this statement is simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours.
DOJ proudly describes its "sacred duty" as "ensur[ing] fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." The shocking action taken by your or your senior staff to seek special protections for Mr. Stone make a mockery of your responsibilities to seek equal justice under the law and reveal that you are unfit to head the DOJ.
A DOJ that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the President of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable.
You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately.
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Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders joined seven other Democratic senators on Friday in sending a letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding that the nation's top law enforcement official resign immediately for intervening this week to reduce the recommended prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump.
"A [Department of Justice] that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the president of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable," reads the letter. "You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren In addition to Warren and Sanders, the letter was signed by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
The letter came a day after Barr admitted in an interview with ABC News that he and other top Justice Department officials stepped in to overrule career federal prosecutors' recommendation of seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted last November of witness tampering and lying to Congress.
"I had made a decision that I thought was fair and reasonable in this case," said Barr.
Barr added in the interview that he is "not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody," referring to President Donald Trump's tweet early Tuesday calling Stone's initial sentence "horrible and very unfair."
"I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases," Barr said.
The senators wrote in their letter that Barr's rebuke of the president is "simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours."
In addition to demanding Barr's resignation, Warren, Van Hollen, Hirono, and Markey unveiled legislation Friday that would bar Justice Department officials appointed by the president from participating in matters related to "the president, his family, or his campaign associates."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple," Warren said in a statement. "This bill would use Congress' spending authority to protect the rule of law and prevent a corrupt attorney general from protecting the president's buddies when they commit crimes to benefit the president."
Read the letter:
Attorney General Barr:
We are writing to express our alarm about and opposition to the unethical political intervention of senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the case of Roger Stone, a former campaign insider and adviser to President Trump who was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation, lying to Congress, and tampering with a witness in connection with the investigation of Russian intervention into the 2016 presidential election. The interference in this case by you or other senior DOJ officials working under you is a clear violation of your duty to defend fair, impartial, and equal justice for all Americans. As a result, we call on you to resign immediately.
On Monday, February 10, the four DOJ prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case recommended a sentencing range of seven to nine years in prison. Mr. Stone was found guilty of lying to the House Intelligence Committee in the committee's investigation of the 2016 election and then threatening "bodily harm" to a witness who could have exposed these lies. In their sentencing memorandum, the prosecutors explained that "Stone chose--consciously, repeatedly, and flagrantly--to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans," and that "Stone's lies to Congress and his obstructive conduct are a direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." Shortly after news broke about the filing, President Trump tweeted that the recommendation was "a horrible and very unfair situation" and wrote: "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice."
Later the same day, Timothy Shea, the interim head of the U.S. Attorney's office, filed a new sentencing memorandum reversing the recommendation of the line prosecutors, stating that the initial recommendation of seven to nine years "could be considered excessive and unwarranted." Following this remarkable interference by senior DOJ officials, all four of the prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case withdrew.
According to press reports, "[t]he decision to override the recommended sentence was made by officials from [your office] and [Jeffrey Rosen,] the deputy attorney general." The day after DOJ's abrupt about-face, however, President Trump indicated that you were directly involved, tweeting: "Congratulations to Attorney General Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control," and you confirmed your direct involvement in an interview with ABC News yesterday.
This is an extraordinary turn of events. It appears to show that you and other top DOJ officials intervened in a clearly political fashion to undermine the administration of justice at the President's behest in order to protect a well-connected political ally who committed a "direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." It demonstrates that you lied to Congress during your confirmation hearing when you stated that you would "keep the enforcement process sacrosanct from political influence," and it reveals your unwillingness or inability to maintain the integrity of the DOJ and to uphold justice and the rule of law. While you asserted yesterday in an interview with ABC News that you were "not going to be... influenced by anybody," this statement is simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours.
DOJ proudly describes its "sacred duty" as "ensur[ing] fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." The shocking action taken by your or your senior staff to seek special protections for Mr. Stone make a mockery of your responsibilities to seek equal justice under the law and reveal that you are unfit to head the DOJ.
A DOJ that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the President of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable.
You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders joined seven other Democratic senators on Friday in sending a letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding that the nation's top law enforcement official resign immediately for intervening this week to reduce the recommended prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump.
"A [Department of Justice] that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the president of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable," reads the letter. "You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren In addition to Warren and Sanders, the letter was signed by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
The letter came a day after Barr admitted in an interview with ABC News that he and other top Justice Department officials stepped in to overrule career federal prosecutors' recommendation of seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted last November of witness tampering and lying to Congress.
"I had made a decision that I thought was fair and reasonable in this case," said Barr.
Barr added in the interview that he is "not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody," referring to President Donald Trump's tweet early Tuesday calling Stone's initial sentence "horrible and very unfair."
"I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases," Barr said.
The senators wrote in their letter that Barr's rebuke of the president is "simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours."
In addition to demanding Barr's resignation, Warren, Van Hollen, Hirono, and Markey unveiled legislation Friday that would bar Justice Department officials appointed by the president from participating in matters related to "the president, his family, or his campaign associates."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple," Warren said in a statement. "This bill would use Congress' spending authority to protect the rule of law and prevent a corrupt attorney general from protecting the president's buddies when they commit crimes to benefit the president."
Read the letter:
Attorney General Barr:
We are writing to express our alarm about and opposition to the unethical political intervention of senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the case of Roger Stone, a former campaign insider and adviser to President Trump who was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation, lying to Congress, and tampering with a witness in connection with the investigation of Russian intervention into the 2016 presidential election. The interference in this case by you or other senior DOJ officials working under you is a clear violation of your duty to defend fair, impartial, and equal justice for all Americans. As a result, we call on you to resign immediately.
On Monday, February 10, the four DOJ prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case recommended a sentencing range of seven to nine years in prison. Mr. Stone was found guilty of lying to the House Intelligence Committee in the committee's investigation of the 2016 election and then threatening "bodily harm" to a witness who could have exposed these lies. In their sentencing memorandum, the prosecutors explained that "Stone chose--consciously, repeatedly, and flagrantly--to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans," and that "Stone's lies to Congress and his obstructive conduct are a direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." Shortly after news broke about the filing, President Trump tweeted that the recommendation was "a horrible and very unfair situation" and wrote: "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice."
Later the same day, Timothy Shea, the interim head of the U.S. Attorney's office, filed a new sentencing memorandum reversing the recommendation of the line prosecutors, stating that the initial recommendation of seven to nine years "could be considered excessive and unwarranted." Following this remarkable interference by senior DOJ officials, all four of the prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case withdrew.
According to press reports, "[t]he decision to override the recommended sentence was made by officials from [your office] and [Jeffrey Rosen,] the deputy attorney general." The day after DOJ's abrupt about-face, however, President Trump indicated that you were directly involved, tweeting: "Congratulations to Attorney General Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control," and you confirmed your direct involvement in an interview with ABC News yesterday.
This is an extraordinary turn of events. It appears to show that you and other top DOJ officials intervened in a clearly political fashion to undermine the administration of justice at the President's behest in order to protect a well-connected political ally who committed a "direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." It demonstrates that you lied to Congress during your confirmation hearing when you stated that you would "keep the enforcement process sacrosanct from political influence," and it reveals your unwillingness or inability to maintain the integrity of the DOJ and to uphold justice and the rule of law. While you asserted yesterday in an interview with ABC News that you were "not going to be... influenced by anybody," this statement is simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours.
DOJ proudly describes its "sacred duty" as "ensur[ing] fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." The shocking action taken by your or your senior staff to seek special protections for Mr. Stone make a mockery of your responsibilities to seek equal justice under the law and reveal that you are unfit to head the DOJ.
A DOJ that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the President of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable.
You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately.
"Bureau of Labor Statistics data is what determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits," said Rep. John Larson. "It should alarm everyone when a yes-man determined to end Social Security is installed in this position."
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to replace the top labor statistics official he fired earlier this month has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" that needs to be "sunset," comments that critics said further disqualify the nominee for the key government role.
During a December 2024 radio interview, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni said it is a "mathematical fiction" that Social Security "can go on forever" and called for "some kind of transition program where unfortunately you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes, but never actually receive any of those benefits."
"That's the price to pay for unwinding a Ponzi scheme that was foisted on the American people by the Democrats in the 1930s," Antoni continued. "You're not going to be able to sustain a Ponzi scheme like Social Security. Eventually, you need to sunset the program."
Trump's choice for the Commissioner of the Bureau Labor Statistics called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" in an interview:
" What you need to do is have some kind of transition program where unfortunately you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes, but… pic.twitter.com/MXL7k1C644
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 12, 2025
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), one of Social Security's most vocal defenders in Congress, said Antoni's position on the program matters because "Bureau of Labor Statistics data is what determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits."
"It should alarm everyone when a yes-man determined to end Social Security is installed in this position," Larson said in a statement. "I call on every Senate Republican to stand with Democrats and reject this extreme nominee—before our seniors are denied the benefits they earned through a lifetime of hard work."
Trump announced Antoni's nomination to serve as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) less than two weeks after the president fired the agency's former head, Erika McEntarfer, following the release of abysmal jobs figures. The firing sparked concerns that future BLS data will be manipulated to suit Trump's political interests.
Antoni was a contributor to the far-right Project 2025 agenda that the Trump administration appears to have drawn from repeatedly this year, and his position on Social Security echoes that of far-right billionaire Elon Musk, who has also falsely characterized the program as a Ponzi scheme.
During his time in the Trump administration, Musk spearheaded an assault on the Social Security Administration that continues in the present, causing widespread chaos at the agency and increasing wait times for beneficiaries.
"President Trump fired the commissioner of Labor Statistics to cover up a weak jobs report—and now he is replacing her with a Project 2025 lackey who wants to shut down Social Security," said Larson. "E.J. Antoni agrees with Elon Musk that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and said that middle-class seniors would be better off if it was eliminated."
"This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves," said one Amnesty campaigner.
After leaked drafts exposed the Trump administration's plans to downplay human rights abuses in some allied countries, including Israel, the U.S. Department of State released the final edition of an annual report on Tuesday, sparking fresh condemnation.
"Breaking with precedent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not provide a written introduction to the report nor did he make remarks about it," CNN reported. Still, Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA's national director of government relations and advocacy, called him out by name in a Tuesday statement.
"With the release of the U.S. State Department's human rights report, it is clear that the Trump administration has engaged in a very selective documentation of human rights abuses in certain countries," Klasing said. "In addition to eliminating entire sections for certain countries—for example discrimination against LGBTQ+ people—there are also arbitrary omissions within existing sections of the report based on the country."
Klasing explained that "we have criticized past reports when warranted, but have never seen reports quite like this. Never before have the reports gone this far in prioritizing an administration's political agenda over a consistent and truthful accounting of human rights violations around the world—softening criticism in some countries while ignoring violations in others. The State Department has said in relation to the reports less is more. However, for the victims and human rights defenders who rely on these reports to shine light on abuses and violations, less is just less."
"Secretary Rubio knows full well from his time in the Senate how vital these reports are in informing policy decisions and shaping diplomatic conversations, yet he has made the dangerous and short-sighted decision to put out a truncated version that doesn't tell the whole story of human rights violations," she continued. "This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves."
"Failing to adequately report on human rights violations further damages the credibility of the U.S. on human rights issues," she added. "It's shameful that the Trump administration and Secretary Rubio are putting politics above human lives."
The overarching report—which includes over 100 individual country reports—covers 2024, the last full calendar year of the Biden administration. The appendix says that in March, the report was "streamlined for better utility and accessibility in the field and by partners, and to be more responsive to the underlying legislative mandate and aligned to the administration's executive orders."
As CNN detailed:
The latest report was stripped of many of the specific sections included in past reports, including reporting on alleged abuses based on sexual orientation, violence toward women, corruption in government, systemic racial or ethnic violence, or denial of a fair public trial. Some country reports, including for Afghanistan, do address human rights abuses against women.
"We were asked to edit down the human rights reports to the bare minimum of what was statutorily required," said Michael Honigstein, the former director of African Affairs at the State Department's Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor. He and his office helped compile the initial reports.
Over the past week, since the draft country reports leaked to the press, the Trump administration has come under fire for its portrayals of El Salvador, Israel, and Russia.
The report on Israel—and the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—is just nine pages. The brevity even drew the attention of Israeli media. The Times of Israel highlighted that it "is much shorter than last year's edition compiled under the Biden administration and contained no mention of the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have slaughtered over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials—though experts warn the true toll is likely far higher. As Israel has restricted humanitarian aid in recent months, over 200 people have starved to death, including 103 children.
The U.S. report on Israel does not mention the genocide case that Israel faces at the International Court of Justice over the assault on Gaza, or the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The section on war crimes and genocide only says that "terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah continue to engage in the
indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians in violation of the law of armed conflict."
As the world mourns the killing of six more Palestinian media professionals in Gaza this week—which prompted calls for the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting—the report's section on press freedom is also short and makes no mention of the hundreds of journalists killed in Israel's annihilation of the strip:
The law generally provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right for most Israelis. NGOs and journalists reported authorities restricted press coverage and limited certain forms of expression, especially in the context of criticism against the war or sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.
Noting that "the human rights reports have been among the U.S. government's most-read documents," DAWN senior adviser and 32-year State Department official Charles Blaha said the "significant omissions" in this year's report on Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank render it "functionally useless for Congress and the public as nothing more than a pro-Israel document."
Like Klasing at Amnesty, Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director, specifically called out the U.S. secretary of state.
"Secretary Rubio has revamped the State Department reports for one principal purpose: to whitewash Israeli crimes, including its horrific genocide and starvation in Gaza. The report shockingly includes not a word about the overwhelming evidence of genocide, mass starvation, and the deliberate bombardment of civilians in Gaza," she said. "Rubio has defied the letter and intent of U.S. laws requiring the State Department to report truthfully and comprehensively about every country's human rights abuses, instead offering up anodyne cover for his murderous friends in Tel Aviv."
The Tuesday release came after a coalition of LGBTQ+ and human rights organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department over its refusal to release the congressionally mandated report.
This article has been updated with comment from DAWN.
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," said the head of Common Cause.
As Republicans try to rig congressional maps in several states and Democrats threaten retaliatory measures, a pro-democracy watchdog on Tuesday unveiled new fairness standards underscoring that "independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for ending partisan gerrymandering."
Common Cause will hold an online media briefing Wednesday at noon Eastern time "to walk reporters though the six pieces of criteria the organization will use to evaluate any proposed maps."
The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group said that "it will closely evaluate, but not automatically condemn, countermeasures" to Republican gerrymandering efforts—especially mid-decade redistricting not based on decennial censuses.
Amid the gerrymandering wars, we just launched 6 fairness criteria to hold all actors to the same principled standard: people first—not parties. Read our criteria here: www.commoncause.org/resources/po...
[image or embed]
— Common Cause (@commoncause.org) August 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Common Cause's six fairness criteria for mid-decade redistricting are:
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement. "But neither will we call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarian tactics that undermine fair representation."
"We have established a fairness criteria that we will use to evaluate all countermeasures so we can respond to the most urgent threats to fair representation while holding all actors to the same principled standard: people—not parties—first," she added.
Common Cause's fairness criteria come amid the ongoing standoff between Republicans trying to gerrymander Texas' congressional map and Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in a bid to stymie a vote on the measure. Texas state senators on Tuesday approved the proposed map despite a walkout by most of their Democratic colleagues.
Leaders of several Democrat-controlled states, most notably California, have threatened retaliatory redistricting.
"This moment is about more than responding to a single threat—it's about building the movement for lasting reform," Kase Solomón asserted. "This is not an isolated political tactic; it is part of a broader march toward authoritarianism, dismantling people-powered democracy, and stripping away the people's ability to have a political voice and say in how they are governed."