1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Investigate Congress Members Using Public Office for Personal Gain The pattern of self-dealing in Congress has gone on long enough. Launch a formal investigation into members who are using their seats to enrich themselves, and pursue removal for those found to have violated the public trust. This is not a fringe concern — it is documented, specific, and damning. Sen. Susan Collins accepted nearly $500,000 from Big Pharma over her career, and the day after a private equity billionaire donated $2 million to her reelection, she cast the deciding vote to extend tax breaks for private equity owners. Sen. Dan Sullivan sat on a committee overseeing the chemical industry while holding $5 million in stock in RPM International, a company whose products are linked to cancer — and made an estimated $2 million trading stocks while in office. Former Sen. John Sununu investigated the Wall Street bailout, then joined the board of a financial firm that received $3 billion from that same fund. These are not coincidences. They are a system. Congress members who profit from the industries they regulate are not serving their constituents — they are selling them out. I expect you to support a full investigation, back legislation banning congressional stock trading, and hold every member accountable regardless of party. The revolving door between public office and private profit has to close.