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Poll Shows US Majority Wants Checks on Presidential Overreach
"This isn’t about left or right," said the group behind the survey. "It’s about protecting our democracy’s foundation: Congress makes the laws. The president enforces them."
Sep 17, 2025
Amid US President Donald Trump's authoritarian policies and practices, Americans are increasingly worried that too much power is concentrated in the White House, polling published Wednesday revealed.
YouGov surveyed 1,070 registered US voters on behalf of the campaign finance reform nonprofit Issue One and found that they "overwhelmingly support our constitutional system of checks and balances."
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said the US political system is "too centralized," more than twice as many respondents who said it isn't centralized enough. Among Democrats, two-thirds agreed that political power is too centralized in the US, while 47% of Republicans and 56% of Independents agreed.
At least two-thirds of respondents of every political affiliation agreed that specific checks and balances—including congressional oversight (78%), Congress' power of the purse (68%), and judicial review (70%)—strengthen democracy.
Respondents were also asked whether they believe the president should be allowed to cross certain "red lines":
Asked if Trump "is going too far," 59% of overall respondents said yes, including 95% of Democrats, 79% of Independents, and 21% of Republicans.
“Americans want a Congress that will stand up to the president when they go too far—that’s the whole point of checks and balances,” Issue One founder and CEO Nick Penniman said in a statement.
“Our Constitution was designed to prevent any one president from acting like a king," Penniman continued. "But if our country keeps heading down this path, power will keep concentrating in the White House—and a representative government that is by and for the American people will be replaced with a government that only serves the president and those connected to him."
“Congress needs to step up and do its job," he added. "Upholding the Constitution is not about right versus left—it is about being on the right or wrong side of history.”
In an effort to "restore checks and balances" and "defend the Constitution," Issue One is launching a We The People Playbook, "a set of bipartisan policies rooted in Article I of the Constitution, designed to protect our freedoms, hold presidents accountable, and restore the balance of power."
The new poll and playbook are part of Issue One's Check the Exec campaign, which is fighting for the "restoration of critical checks and balances."
"This isn’t about left or right," says Issue One on the campaign's website. "It’s about protecting our democracy’s foundation: Congress makes the laws. The president enforces them."
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Watchdogs Welcome House Introduction of Congressional Stock Trading Ban
"As long as sitting lawmakers are allowed to trade stocks connected to the industries they oversee, the public will question whether they are prioritizing their own personal profits," said one campaigner.
Sep 03, 2025
Government watchdog groups on Wednesday cheered the bipartisan introduction of the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would ban federal lawmakers, along with their spouses and children, from trading individual stocks.
"The legislation would require lawmakers to sell all individual stocks within 180 days," according to NPR. "Newly elected members of Congress would also have to divest of individual stock holdings before being sworn in. Members who fail to divest would face a fine equivalent to 10% of the value of the stock."
The bill's lead supporters in the House of Representatives span the full ideological spectrum: Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Seth Magaziner (D-Pa.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Chip Roy (R-Texas).
"In a strong display of bipartisanship, leaders from both sides of the aisle in the House have worked together to produce a comprehensive and commonsense legislative measure to ban congressional stock trading," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with the group Public Citizen, which is endorsing the bill.
"These members worked for months in drafting a strong consensus bill that addresses all the key elements of an effective ban on congressional stock trading," he continued, welcoming that the prohibition applies to immediate family members and "covers a wide range of investments, including cryptocurrency, and is fortified with strong enforcement measures."
Brett Edkins, managing director of policy and political affairs at the progressive advocacy group Stand Up America, also applauded the bill, highlighting that "our representatives in Washington have access to an enormous amount of information about our economy that isn't available to the public."
"They should not be allowed to use what they learn in the course of their legislative duties to gain an unfair advantage and enrich themselves," he said. "It's time to ban sitting members of Congress from buying and selling stocks. Members of Congress cannot be trusted to police themselves, and existing ethics laws do not go far enough to prevent members from using their insider knowledge for personal gain."
Lawmakers behind this new proposal have long advocated for a full ban, arguing that existing protections—including those in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012—are inadequate.
Advocacy groups, including the Campaign Legal Center, have also "been fighting for years to improve laws regulating the way members of Congress trade stocks," noted Kedric Payne, CLC's vice president, general counsel, and senior director for ethics.
"As long as sitting lawmakers are allowed to trade stocks connected to the industries they oversee, the public will question whether they are prioritizing their own personal profits over the public interest," Payne said. "We applaud this bipartisan legislation that incorporates the key provisions of stock act reform CLC has fought to advance—a ban on stock ownership that is enforceable and holds lawmakers accountable."
Jamie Neikrie, legislative director at the political reform group Issue One, pointed out Wednesday that "three years have passed since House leadership made a commitment to bring a congressional stock trading ban bill to the floor for a vote."
"It's time to get this much-needed reform across the finish line—no more excuses," Neikrie declared. "Members of Congress have a responsibility to hold themselves to the highest ethical standards, and passing the Restore Trust in Congress Act is how Congress shows it's serious about restoring trust and integrity in government."
"Today is a critical step for a more transparent and stronger institution," he added, urging "leadership in both chambers to seize this moment" and send the bill to President Donald Trump's desk.
Earlier this summer, Trump lashed out at Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who worked with Democrats to advance out of committee a stock trading ban, claiming that "he is playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats."
Hawley initially called his proposal the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act—a nod to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose husband's stock trading has drawn scrutiny. After Hawley worked with Democrats on the bill, it was renamed the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transactions (HONEST) Act.
After the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's July vote, Pelosi said that "while I appreciate the creativity of my Republican colleagues in drafting legislative acronyms, I welcome any serious effort to raise ethical standards in public service. The HONEST Act, as amended, rightly applies its stock trading ban not only to Members of Congress, but now to the president and vice president as well. I strongly support this legislation and look forward to voting for it on the floor of the House."
Meanwhile, Fox News' Jesse Watters at the time asked Hawley about Trump lashing out at him. The Senate Republican responded, "I had a good chat with the president earlier this evening, and he reiterated to me he wants to see a ban on stock trading by people like Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress, which is what we passed today."
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'This Is Not Governance': Ex-Lawmakers Urge Congress to Defend Democracy Against Trump-Musk Power Grab
The former members of Congress called the Trump administration's actions "a direct threat to democratic accountability and the separation of powers that protects the rights and freedoms of all Americans."
Mar 05, 2025
Dozens of bipartisan former U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday implored members of Congress to "exercise their constitutional authority amid growing concerns that the Trump administration is threatening the system of checks and balances" upon which the nation's political order depends.
"While we represent different political perspectives, we stand united in our conviction that the United States Constitution represents humanity's greatest testament to self-governance," the 60 ex-lawmakers wrote in an open letter that's part of a broader campaign by Issue One, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit seeking to reduce the role of money in politics.
"Article I of the Constitution places Congress at the center of our democracy for a profound reason," the letter states. "The legislative branch was designed to be the primary voice of the people, containing all political viewpoints, not just one. This is why the Constitution grants Congress specific and immutable powers, including the power of the purse—a vital check on executive authority."
Former Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel, ex-House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt & more warn that the executive branch is seizing unchecked power. Read the letter and take action: issueone.org/press/n...
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— Issue One (@issueonereform.bsky.social) March 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
The former legislators noted that the U.S. founders "acutely understood that unchecked power, no matter its source, poses a fundamental threat to liberty."
"But America is suddenly at a perilous crossroads," they warned. "The executive branch must yield to checks and balances. It must not seize for itself—or for any unelected billionaire—powers that defy accountability."
The letter continues:
The challenges we face today are not partisan—they are constitutional. Recent actions taken by certain actors within the executive branch, Elon Musk, and his Department of Government Efficiency, represent an unprecedented challenge to congressional authority.
Musk and his DOGE operatives, many bearing no official government role, have positioned themselves as the final authority on hiring, spending, and governance—without input from elected lawmakers. Even more alarming, these operatives have been granted direct access to federal payment systems, placing Social Security payments, military salaries, and government disbursements under private influence.
"This is not governance," the letter's signers stressed. "This is a direct threat to democratic accountability and the separation of powers that protects the rights and freedoms of all Americans."
"Many of us agree that wasteful spending and burdensome bureaucracy can and should be addressed, but this is not the way to do it," the ex-lawmakers argued. "Congress must not allow their constitutional authority to be usurped."
The letter also voices concern over "efforts to bring independent agencies under the control of the White House, including the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Election Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission."
"These agencies were legally established by Congress to operate independently from the president and implement regulations impartially," the letter's signers said. "If Congress fails to exert their Article I powers, it risks becoming nothing more than a ceremonial body, debating policies it no longer has the power to enforce. This is not a theoretical concern—it is an immediate threat to our constitutional order."
The former members of Congress are calling on current legislators, "regardless of party," to "take immediate action," including:
- Launching comprehensive oversight hearings into the unprecedented access granted to DOGE operatives;
- Issuing subpoenas for key officials and documents related to DOGE's hiring practices, financial access, and decision-making authority;
- Publicly reaffirming Congress' constitutional authority under Article I, and
- Rejecting any attempt to shift power permanently into unaccountable private hands.
"As America marches toward its 250th year, we call upon those in Congress and the White House to heed the wisdom of the framers," the letter's signers added. "The future of the country we love will be shaped by the choices we make today."
The members of Issue One's ReFormers Caucus who signed the letter include former Rep. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.), Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Rep. David Emery (R-Maine), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.), House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Sen. Gary Hart (D-Ind.), Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.), Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), and Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.).
In addition to the open letter, Issue One's campaign is set to include a full-page ad in Thursday's edition of The Wall Street Journal.
"We are calling for accountability," Issue One CEO and founder Nick Penniman said in a statement. "The Founders were deeply worried about runaway executive power. But that's what we're seeing today, with one division inside of the executive branch co-opting the power of the purse and effectively closing down agencies that were formed by Congress."
"It's unchecked power, and it's wildly reckless as a result," Penniman added. "Now is the time for Congress, as the 'First Branch,' to defend the system of checks and balances that has served us for nearly 250 years and perform its most basic duties of oversight."
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