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Democrats won key elections this month in part by running on curbing corruption in Washington.
Trump and his allies say they did nothing wrong and blame President Joe Biden for high costs. Now, congressional Democrats are preparing to investigate Trump's finances. But top progressives in Washington say that's not enough, and that the party needs to keep its campaign promises by passing actual legislation.
"The midterms demonstrated that from every corner of the country and amongst every group of people, Democrats, Independents, and many Republicans, there is a deep and growing anger at the level of corruption in Washington," said Neera Tanden, the longtime head of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank at the center of many Democratic legislative initiatives.
CAP is pushing a proposal - aimed at incoming members of Congress, but also presidential hopefuls - full of new rules and regulations to curb corruption that it says Congress should pass.
The proposal includes:
• A ban on trading individual stocks for all branches of government and requiring the use of blind trusts and approved index funds
• Barring officeholders from launching or backing their own crypto products
• Prohibiting all federal employees and contractors from participating in prediction markets
• Curbing presidential self-enrichment with a 100 percent tax on any presidential income other than their government compensation, holdings in a blind trust, and regular real estate income from preexisting holdings
• Allowing states and taxpayers to challenge potential corruption via the courts
• Banning anyone worth over more than $100 million from being a special government employee, unless they divest from all assets in the area they will be working
• Prohibiting anyone with more than a 1 percent stake in an entity that has received more than $10 million in government contracts over a five-year period from working in a government position that oversees or regulates that industry
The push also includes language to make presidential pardons more transparent, including written certification of all people advocating for the pardons and any financial relationships between the pardon recipient and the president's family, business or political network.
If the proposals sound familiar, that is intentional: They are directly tied to recent news stories around the president and his family, from Trump's aforementioned crypto business to accusations that the president traded favors for pardons (accusations he denies).
"President Trump has launched an all-out war on fraud across the entire federal government, holding criminals accountable and saving taxpayers billions of dollars," said Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson. "The Democrats in Congress have refused to do anything to stop waste, fraud, and abuse in our government."
The American public certainly sees corruption not only as a problem, but as something running rampant in Washington.
Gallup found in a 2026 survey that a whopping 89 percent of Americans said government corruption was widespread.
Tanden acknowledged that polling shows voters think both Democrats and Republicans are corrupt, but she argued that "this is a moment in time where Democrats can demonstrate that they are different."
"What people are very hungry for is ensuring this level of corruption cannot happen again," Tanden said.
Though corruption messaging worked for Democrats this year, Republicans have capitalized on it, too. Trump's entire argument in 2016 was, essentially, that the system was rigged against the voters, and Hillary Clinton represented the establishment that has benefited. Voters mostly agreed, and Clinton lost.
A similar antiestablishment anger helped Democrats pick up four Senate seats and 49 House seats after the Watergate scandal, expanding their majorities in both chambers. The elections were the greatest Democratic showing since World War II and centered on combating corruption. New members from these midterms were called "Watergate babies" because their wins were tied to the backlash.
Tanden and others argue that the same sentiment is prevalent right now.
"This was Watergate numbers, and the common thread is the corruption," Rahm Emanuel told me last week, when asked about Democrats' sizable victory. "And what the Democrats should do is deal with it by passing comprehensive ethics reform."
Emanuel, who is considering a 2028 run and positioning himself as an ideas guy in a field of better-known Democrats, argued it would be a "missed opportunity" if Democrats don't hold all of Washington accountable with new rules for both parties.
"Be the party that cleaned it up," Emanuel said, arguing that Americans see all of Washington - including the courts and Congress - as corrupt, not just the president.
Defend the Vote, the progressive outside group that pushed candidates in 2026 to focus on how corruption had become an economic issue because it was costing voters money, has already started pushing members it helped elect to back anti-corruption reforms.
This week they hosted a dinner welcoming new members of Congress, which included a discussion about how the elected officials need to follow through on their campaign messaging.
"New members and incumbents all understand the mandate and the urgency. A stock trading ban is a popular starting point," said Adam Bozzi, a Democratic operative and adviser for Defend the Vote. "Members are motivated to take action, and there's a lot of work happening right now among advocates and Members on what these reforms will look like."
Trump has sent mixed signals about how willing he is to work with a Democratic Congress. He could easily veto any anti-corruption legislation Democrats pass.
But Tanden said that makes it even more imperative for Democrats to work on the issue, using any veto to energize voters, arguing that "this will not happen" again with a Democrat in the White House.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Previously:
• Dems face a choice on Trump come January: Confrontation or compromise
• Dems can't believe their luck. No really, they can't
• Primary bad blood is still simmering in key midterm races
• How Republicans' fortunes at the ballot box are linked to diesel fuel prices
• Dems are running against the One Big Beautiful Bill. What can they do if they win?
• Dems sound the money alarm in a key battleground
• Republican candidates are breaking with Trump on Iran as midterms looms
• Republicans have one clear advantage this November
• The midterms are over. Sort of
• Working-class Americans aren't running for office. It's changing our politics
• Why this popular Dem is running like he is behind
• The divide between Trump and Vance on Iran
• The bipartisan rise of Flock cameras as a political issue
• Are data centers enough to flip a key House race?
• Voters want fighters. But where is the limit?
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• For the DNC, no money, more problems