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 ādrain the swampā by eliminating government corruption.
President Trump campaigned around the country to ādrain the swampā, yet one of the first things he did was reverse President Bidenās executive order that banned White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists," Khanna said on the House floor. āI believe that this bill will have support, not just from progressives, not just from independents, but from the MAGA movement.ā
Khannaās move forces Trump-aligned Republicans to either support stricter ethics reformsāaligning with Trumpās past rhetoricāor 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 ādrain the swampā during his first term in a letter urging him to address ākey corruption risks,ā a likely reference to Elon Musk, who holds a government role while maintaining extensive private business interests.
āThe American people have seen that, all too often, government officials use their positions to benefit their own pocketbooks,ā Warren wrote. āEven the appearance of such corruption is enough to damage Americansā trust in government.ā
Khannaās bill is the latest effort from Democrats to test whether Trump and his allies are willing to follow through on anti-corruption rhetoricāor if ādraining the swampā was just a campaign slogan.
Itās nice and all, but Dems still havenāt learned the lesson. You can only capture the republican voter with raw emotions. This is 100% worthless if it doesnāt elicit raw anger from those voters, and as weāve learned it doesnāt. Itās stuff they experience and get frustrated by daily, like healthcare uncertainty => Dems promise expanded access <= Reps will cancel it out by claiming āillegalsā will benefit from it.
The grocery prices thing was a good rep strategy to rile people up because most shop for groceries at least weekly so you can remind them how pissed they are every week. same thing applies to paying at the gas station. Dems need to find something similar and pound it in. Good luck with that.