Corruption Watch: Congressional Stock Trading Ban, Rigged Congressional Districts, Trump Instant Pot Fiasco and More

Here’s the democracy and corruption news from this week that you can’t miss:

Rolling Stone reports that voters in key swing districts think Democrats are more corrupt than Republicans, according to a new End Citizens United poll. That’s alarming. Tiffany Muller, president of ECU, told Rolling Stone, “If you look all the way back to 2006, whoever ends up winning the messaging battle on ‘Who is most trusted to take on corruption and make the system work for the people?’ is who wins the election. I think in 2026 that’s what we’re going to see again.” The good news: The polling also shows that if Democrats get louder about corruption harming everyday people they’ll win in 2026. The whole article is worth the read.

Speaking of which: Could Congress finally stop some of its own grifting? On Wednesday, a bill that would prohibit stock trading by lawmakers, presidents, and vice presidents made it out of a Senate committee. Democrats on the committee supported the bill. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was the only Republican to vote yes. Florida Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna has promised to force a vote on a stock trading ban when the House reconvenes in September, setting up an intra-party fight over whether the GOP will change its anti-anti-corruption (in other words, pro-corruption) stance. Look out for more on why Democrats absolutely need to lead on this issue next week from Democracy News.

The system just keeps getting more rigged. Texas Republican lawmakers are gerrymandering Congressional maps in what the Texas Tribune calls an attempt to flip five Democratic seats in next year’s midterm elections “after a pressure campaign waged by President Donald Trump’s political team.” This week, GOP lawmakers unveiled the first draft of potential new maps, which would target Democratic incumbents in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and in South Texas, according to VoteBeat Texas. This transparent power grab disenfranchises Texans and is an attack on democracy. More on this from us to come.

Judges are still, sometimes, upholding some guardrails of democracy. A Miami-Dade County judge ruled last week that Miami commissioners and Republican Mayor Francis Suarez can’t just up and delay elections for a year. This decision is an especially big deal given that officials were planning to postpone elections amidst public backlash over reports of inhumane conditions at the so-called Alligator Alcatraz detention center located in Miami-Dade County.

You can’t make it up. The New York Times reports that a private equity firm tried to flatter Trump by manufacturing Trump-themed Instant Pots to win itself some help with an anti-trust lawsuit and looming tariffs. But you know what? The plot failed.