Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) put Republicans on the spot with the introduction of his Drain the Swamp Act, a bill aimed at banning White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists and preventing them from becoming lobbyists.

The bill directly challenges Trump to uphold his long-standing campaign promise to ā€œdrain the swampā€ by eliminating government corruption.

President Trump campaigned around the country to ā€˜drain the swampā€™, yet one of the first things he did was reverse President Bidenā€™s executive order that banned White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists," Khanna said on the House floor. ā€œI believe that this bill will have support, not just from progressives, not just from independents, but from the MAGA movement.ā€

Khannaā€™s move forces Trump-aligned Republicans to either support stricter ethics reformsā€”aligning with Trumpā€™s past rhetoricā€”or reject the bill, which could be seen as backtracking on promises to clean up Washington.

Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) accused Trump of breaking his promise to ā€œdrain the swampā€ during his first term in a letter urging him to address ā€œkey corruption risks,ā€ a likely reference to Elon Musk, who holds a government role while maintaining extensive private business interests.

ā€œThe American people have seen that, all too often, government officials use their positions to benefit their own pocketbooks,ā€ Warren wrote. ā€œEven the appearance of such corruption is enough to damage Americansā€™ trust in government.ā€

Khannaā€™s bill is the latest effort from Democrats to test whether Trump and his allies are willing to follow through on anti-corruption rhetoricā€”or if ā€œdraining the swampā€ was just a campaign slogan.

  • BaldProphet@piefed.social
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    17 days ago

    I know Republicans who donā€™t think Elon Muskā€™s obvious conflicts of interest are a problem. You just canā€™t reason with these people.

    • morrowind@lemmy.mlOP
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      16 days ago

      Yeah, while this bill will show the obvious hypocrisy, it wonā€™t do anything. Like we already have 700 other examples of the hypocrisy.

      But still good to have ig. Kinda like scientific studies that confirm things everybody already knows