Congress Must Approve the Protecting Our Democracy Act to Ensure the Presidency Is Not a License for Lawlessness
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House is expected to vote today on the Protecting Our Democracy Act to restore the Founders’ checks and balances and prevent presidential abuses of power. Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“The Protecting Our Democracy Act would reassert congressional oversight of an increasingly powerful Office of the President, ensuring that Congress is indeed a co-equal branch of government as envisioned by our Founders. But it has to get through the cancer of today’s polarized politics on Capitol Hill. This legislation should never be viewed as a Democratic or Republican bill; it is democracy legislation.
“As the power of the presidency has grown far beyond its proper boundaries over the last half century – enabling the president to wage wars, declare national emergencies, and usurp the power of the purse without appropriate congressional involvement – Congress is finally attempting to rein in what has become an almost imperial Office of the President.
“This measure is sorely needed legislation that would check the ability of the president to use the office for financial gain, reassert the role of Congress in matters of war and national emergencies, ensure the independence of inspector generals in investigating corruption, and much more. It is long past time to restore the balance of powers and fix our democracy.”