1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Congress needs to stop treating corruption as a campaign slogan and start treating it as a legislative emergency. Corruption is a system of loopholes that allows wealthy donors, federal contractors, political insiders, family members, foreign interests, and public officials to convert access into influence and influence into profit. And corruption has scaled new heights in this administration. Presidential family members and cabinet members maintain private business interests, foreign investments, or cryptocurrency ventures. Federal contractors benefit from taxpayer money while their executives spend heavily to influence the officials who control those contracts. Members of Congress trade stocks while receiving information unavailable to ordinary investors. Supreme Court justices operate under weak self-policing rules that would not be tolerated in lower courts. Corruption thrives when rules are weak, enforcement is optional, and consequences are reserved for people without power. That must end. Congress must pass a strong anti-corruption package. That package should include full disclosure of dark money in federal elections, real transparency for online political ads, and strict limits on large political spending by federal contractors, their affiliates, top executives, and major shareholders. Congress must ban stock trading by members of Congress and senior staff, requiring assets to be held in broad-based funds or qualified blind trusts. Federal ethics laws must apply meaningfully to the president and vice president, including real conflict-of-interest rules, divestment requirements, and enforceable limits on monetizing public office. Congress must also codify and enforce the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses so no federal official can profit from foreign governments, states, or public office without accountability. The Supreme Court needs a binding ethics code with outside enforcement, transparent complaint procedures, stronger recusal rules, and meaningful financial disclosures. These are not comprehensive suggestions but would go a long way toward stopping the current corruption.