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For Immediate Release
December, 17 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
David Vance,,dvance@commoncause.org
In Wake of Trump Impeachment, Common Cause Urges Fair Trial in Senate
Statement of Karen Hobert Flynn, President of Common Cause
WASHINGTON
The impeachment of President Donald Trump was unfortunate but absolutely necessary to safeguard our democracy and curb the President's ongoing and blatant abuse of the powers of his office. The American people deserve a president who puts what's best for the nation before what's best for them politically. President Trump refused to do that. Instead the President tried to bully and coerce Ukraine into smearing one of his political rivals by withholding U.S. military aid to the imperiled U.S. ally.
The American people also deserve a fair trial of the impeached and disgraced President in the United States Senate - not a show trial to attempt to excuse the abuses of office which led to President Trump's impeachment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his GOP colleagues must put the interests of the nation before the interests of their political party. If Senator McConnell honestly believes that President Trump is innocent of the high crimes for which he was impeached by the House then he should agree a fair trial.
Common Cause, and our 1.2 million members, strongly urge Senator McConnell to ensure a fair trial for the good of the nation by agreeing to the following terms detailed in our recent impeachment report.
- Reach bipartisan agreement before the trial begins on procedures to supplement existing Senate impeachment trial rules, including subpoenaing witnesses and admission of evidence.
- Allow to be admitted into the Senate trial record as evidence all House impeachment inquiry materials designated by the House Judiciary Committee as publicly available, including transcripts of depositions, public hearing testimony and other documents.
- Allow full presentation of the House managers' case before any votes on motions to dismiss or other motions that could terminate the Senate impeachment trial.
- Senators must return any and all political contributions raised by President Trump for any political committee with which Senators are affiliated or demand they recuse themselves from the trial.
- Permit public access to the Senate trial to the greatest extent possible, limiting transparency only in furtherance of compelling interests, such as protection of classified information, whistleblower anonymity, and confidentiality of final deliberation of articles of impeachment following closing arguments.
Americans deserve nothing less than the full truth. They deserve to see a fair trial and they are watching closely to see if Senator McConnell delivers one.
To view the Common Cause report on impeachment, click here.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
(202) 833-1200LATEST NEWS
'Put an End to This Narcissism': New Bill Would Ban Naming of Federal Assets After Sitting Presidents
"It's no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism," said US Sen. Bernie Sanders. "Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the 'Great Leader' by naming public buildings after himself."
Jan 13, 2026
Legislation introduced Tuesday in the US Senate would prohibit the naming or renaming of federal buildings, land, and other assets after sitting presidents, an effort to counter President Donald Trump's moves to attach his personal brand to government infrastructure and programs.
The measure's backers have filed the two-page proposal as an amendment to government funding legislation that senators are taking up this week.
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of the new bill's lead sponsors, said in a statement that Trump's penchant for adding his name to federal structures and initiatives is not mere symbolism. It is of a piece, Sanders argued, with his broader assault on US democracy and attempts to impose his will on the country.
"It's no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism," said Sanders. "Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the 'Great Leader' by naming public buildings after himself—something that dictators have done throughout history."
"For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal," the senator added. "We must put an end to this narcissism—and that’s what this bill does."
If passed, the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act would apply retroactively, "returning any federal assets named for the current sitting president to the name given under United States Code," a summary of the bill notes.
The New York Times on Monday published a list of "some federal initiatives and places that have been named (or renamed) for him, or feature his image, in the last year alone":
- The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts;
- Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace;
- Trump-class U.S.S. Defiant;
- The Trump Gold Card;
- Trump Accounts;
- TrumpRx;
- A proposed 2026 Semiquincentennial $1 coin; and
- America the Beautiful National Parks pass.
“Our country desperately deserves leaders focused on working for the people—not their own ego or narcissism," said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), one of the bill's lead sponsors. "This necessary legislation prohibits the naming, or renaming, of any federal building or land in the name of a sitting president."
"And even more importantly, at a time when Americans can’t afford to put food on the table, pay their rent, or afford health care, this bill prohibits the use of any federal funds for these meaningless vanity projects," Alsobrooks added.
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Newsom Ripped as Billionaire 'Errand Boy' for Opposing Wealth Tax on California Plutocrats
"Gavin Newsom wants a future for the Democratic Party that consists of sucking up to conservative billionaires," said one progressive critic. "That's a path destined for losses."
Jan 13, 2026
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed Monday to stop a proposed tax on the state's richest people, drawing condemnation from progressives who argue that the expected 2028 presidential hopeful's literal and figurative friendship with billionaires has no place in a Democratic Party that must center working class people and issues to win.
Last month, the Service Employees International Union—United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) led the introduction of the California Billionaire Tax Act (CBTA), a state ballot initiative that would impose a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of roughly 200 billionaires "to protect healthcare, keep hospitals and emergency rooms open, and prevent millions of Californians from losing coverage" amid historic cuts to social safety programs by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.
Supporters are currently collecting the 900,000 signatures needed for the CBTA to qualify for California's 2026 ballot. Meanwhile, billionaires including venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Sergey Brin are among those fighting the proposal.
Public opinion polling in recent years has shown that around three-quarters of all California voters, and over 9 in 10 Democrats, back a billionaire wealth tax. So do unions, social and economic justice groups, progressive economists, and congressional lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)—another possible presidential aspirant whose support for the CBTA incensed Thiel and other Silicon Valley billionaires like Larry Page and Elon Musk.
However, Newsom finds himself aligned with Thiel—a seven-figure supporter of President Donald Trump's presidential campaigns—in opposing the proposed tax.
“This will be defeated—there’s no question in my mind,” Newsom said of the CBTA in a Tuesday interview with the New York Times. “I’ll do what I have to do to protect the state."
Two headlines preview the 2028 Democratic presidential primary -- and perfectly reflect the big divide inside the Democratic Party. On one side are those fighting billionaires, on the other side are those who are owned by billionaires.
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— David Sirota (@davidsirota.com) January 13, 2026 at 6:45 AM
Newsom—who has close personal, business, or political ties with billionaires including the Getty family, GAP co-founder Doris Fisher, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and Siebel Systems co-founder and cousin-by-marriage Tom Siebel—said he is against the CBTA because it could stifle California's world-leading technological innovation and drive away businesses and wealthy individuals.
"The impacts are very real—not just substantive economic impacts in terms of the revenue, but start-ups, the indirect impacts of … people questioning long term-commitments," Newsom told Politico Monday. “That’s not what we need right now, at a time of so much uncertainty."
Not all plutocrats oppose a billionaire wealth tax. Benioff, Warren Buffet, Abigail Disney, Bill Gates, Jensen Huang, Chris Hughes, and George Soros have all advocated higher taxes on the ultrarich.
Huang, CEO of tech titan Nvidia and one of the 10 richest people on the planet, said last week that he is "perfectly fine" with the CBTA.
Gavin Newsom has terrible political instincts. Cozying up to racists like Charlie Kirk. Attacking trans kids. Defending billionaires. When left to his own devices he always picks the wrong path.
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— Oliver Willis (@owillis.bsky.social) January 13, 2026 at 4:53 AM
Responding to Newsom's opposition to the CBTA, Progressive Mass political director Jonathan Cohn said on Bluesky: "Gavin Newsom wants a future for the Democratic Party that consists of sucking up to conservative billionaires. That's a path destined for losses."
Civil rights attorney and professor Alejandra Caraballo also took to Bluesky, writing, "Another reason I'm never Newsom. He's a billionaires' errand boy beholden to them."
Progressive organizer Jonathan Rosenblum asked on X, "Which side are you on?"
"Gavin Newsom is on the side of the billionaires, not the millions of working people who stand to lose healthcare because of the Trump cuts," Rosenblum added. "Shamefully typical of the Democratic establishment."
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47 Ways Trump Has 'Made Life Less Affordable' in Second Term
"Trump's actions since taking office a year ago reveal a clear and consistent effort... to serve the interests of his billionaire and corporate backers," said a co-author of the Economic Policy Institute report.
Jan 13, 2026
From "stripping collective bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers" to "denying 2 million in-home healthcare workers minimum wage and overtime pay," President Donald Trump "has actively made life less affordable for working people."
That's according to a Tuesday report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which cataloged 47 key ways that the 47th president made life worse for working people during the first year of his second term.
The think tank sorted the actions into five categories: eroding workers' wages and economic security; undermining job creation; weakening workers' rights; enabling employer exploitation; and creating an ineffective government.
"Many of the actions outlined here have impacts across categories," the report notes. "Trump's attacks on union workers, for example, reduce workers' wages, weaken workers' rights, and promote employer exploitation of workers."
"Every dollar denied to typical workers in wages ends up as higher income for business owners and corporate managers."
The first section highlights that Trump (1) cut the minimum wage for nearly 400,000 federal contractors, (2) ended enforcement of protections for workers illegally classified as independent contractors, (3) slashed wages of migrant farmworkers in the H-2A program, (4) deprived in-home healthcare workers of minimum wage and overtime pay, and (5) facilitated the inclusion of cryptocurrencies among 401(k) investment options.
On the job creation front, the president (6) paused funding for projects authorized under a bipartisan infrastructure law, (7) signed the Laken Riley Act as part of his mass deportation agenda, (8) revoked an executive order that created a federal interagency working group focused on expanding apprenticeships, (9) is trying to shutter Job Corps centers operated by federal contractors, and (10) disrupted manufacturing supply chains with chaotic trade policy.
In addition to (11) attacking the union rights of over 1 million government employees, Trump (12) delayed enforcement of the silica rule for coal miners, (13) proposed limiting the scope of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's general duty clause, (14) fired National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, (15) stripped work permits and temporary protections from immigrants lawfully in the country, and (16) deterred worker organizing with immigration enforcement actions.
Trump's assault on workers' rights has included (17) nominating Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has pursued a deregulatory agenda, (18) illegally firing Gwynne Wilcox from the NLRB, (19) ending funding to fight human trafficking and child and forced labor globally, and (20) terminating International Labor Affairs Bureau grants.
Chavez-DeRemer isn't Trump's only controversial pick for a key labor post. He's also nominated (20) Jonathan Berry as solicitor of labor, (21) Crystal Carey as NLRB general counsel, (22) Scott Mayer as an NLRB board member, and (23) Daniel Aronowitz to lead the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
The 47th president has made life less affordable for everyone but himself & his billionaire backersTrump has 😠 slowed job growth,😡 undercut incomes for workers🤬 enriched the ultrawealthyThe latest from @joshbivens-econ.bsky.social , @cmcnich.bsky.social, and Margaret Poydock.
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— Economic Policy Institute (@epi.org) January 13, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Trump has also (24) weakened workplace safety penalties for smaller businesses, (25) nominated Andrea Lucas as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) chair, (26) revoked an executive order promoting strong labor standards on projects receiving federal funds, (27) appointed Elisabeth Messenger, the former leader of an anti-union group, to head the Office of Labor-Management Standards, (28) fired EEOC Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, and (29) conducted systematic worksite raids that punished workers rather than improving wages and working conditions.
The president's various "deliberate actions to weaken the federal government" have included (30) politicizing career Senior Executive Service officials, (31) firing most staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (32) nominating Brittany Panuccio as an EEOC commissioner, (33) and picking Project 2025 architect Russell Vought as Office of Management and Budget director.
He has also fired (34) Federal Labor Relations Authority Chair Susan Tsui Grundmann and (35) Merit Systems Protection Board Member Cathy Harris, and (36) tried to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whose case is set to be argued before the US Supreme Court next week. Trump further (37) fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer over accurate economic data, and is attempting to shut down (38) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and (39) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
Additionally, the president (40) directed federal agencies to end the use of disparate impact liability, (41) put independent agencies under his supervision, (42) signed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that transfers wealth from working families to the ultrarich, (43) proposed a rule that would make it easier to fire federal employees for political reasons, and (44) issued an executive order on apprenticeships that does not require the government to consult with labor groups.
Finally, since returning to the White House, the Republican has (45) gutted the federal workforce, (46) directed US Attorney General Pam Bondi to challenge state laws that would regulate artificial intelligence technologies, and (47) fired 17 inspectors general.
"Trump's actions since taking office a year ago reveal a clear and consistent effort to make life less affordable for working people in order to serve the interests of his billionaire and corporate backers," said report co-author Celine McNicholas, EPI's director of policy and general counsel, in a statement.
"Every dollar denied to typical workers in wages ends up as higher income for business owners and corporate managers," McNicholas added. "This growing inequality is what is making life so unaffordable for workers and their families today."
EPI released the report as the BLS published its consumer price index data for December, which show a 2.7% year-over-year increase in prices for everyday goods and services.
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