- Introduced Drain the Swamp Act to permanently ban lobbyist gifts to White House officials
- Proposes 12-year congressional term limits and 18-year Supreme Court justice caps
- Advocates binding ethics code for SCOTUS amid mounting public scrutiny
- Seeks bans on stock trading and PAC contributions for federal lawmakers
- Criticizes Democrats' 2024 strategy for enabling Trump's outsidernarrative
As the Democratic Party grapples with its 2024 election setbacks, Rep. Ro Khanna has emerged as a vocal advocate for systemic political reforms. The California congressman argues that anti-corruption measures must form the cornerstone of the party's revival strategy, particularly after former President Trump successfully framed himself as a Washington outsider despite his administration's lobbying ties.
Khanna's Drain the Swamp Act directly challenges the revolving door between government and corporate interests by reinstating stricter Biden-era ethics rules. This legislative push comes as multiple European nations implement similar transparency measures, with Germany recently passing a law requiring public lobbyist registries. Political analysts suggest such reforms could help counter rising voter apathy – a 2023 Pew Research study showed only 35% of Americans trust federal institutions.
The congressman's term limit proposal aligns with growing bipartisan sentiment, as evidenced by Colorado's 2024 ballot initiative imposing 12-year legislative caps. Khanna envisions a judiciary where Supreme Court justices return to lower courts after 18 years, arguing this would maintain judicial expertise while preventing ideological entrenchment. These structural changes aim to address what Transparency International identifies as the #1 voter concern in G7 nations: institutional accountability.
Khanna's stock trading ban for lawmakers mirrors recent successes in New York, where state legislators passed similar restrictions following insider trading scandals. The congressman contends that combining these measures with PAC contribution bans could restore faith in governance: When voters see representatives prioritizing billionaires over bread-and-butter issues, it fuels the extremism we're combatting.
Political strategists note that Khanna's approach borrows from successful anti-corruption movements in Brazil and South Korea, where clean-government platforms boosted youth voter turnout by 22% on average. As Democrats prepare for 2026 midterms, the party faces pressure to adopt these reforms or risk further erosion of their working-class base to third-party candidates.