Fighting the Oligarchy Year in Review

In the face of everything, a nonstop barrage all year long, it would have been easy to look away, to give up. But across the country, so many people found ways to fight back however they could.

So much happened this year. In January, President Trump and his cabinet began their firing sprees, terminating Department of Justice officials, the chair of the Federal Election Commission, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and many, many other career public servants. Simultaneously, at a frantic pace, Trump issued executive orders restricting speech, imposing tariffs, withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, and on and on.

Fast forward to summer, when the Republican-controlled Congress passed a mega-bill that gave the ultra-wealthy a massive tax break while taking health insurance from an estimated 4.7 million people in what’s considered the greatest transfer of wealth to the rich in American history. All this while, we’ve witnessed masked ICE agents grab our neighbors and bring them to detention centers with conditions that have been described as human rights abuses.

This Trump Administration is openly, shamelessly corrupt. The GOP’s biggest donor, Elon Musk was given free rein to dismantle major portions of federal agencies. The Trump Administration gave fossil fuel companies the green light to pursue all manner of lucrative projects, after their titans donated heavily to Trump’s presidential campaign. The White House hosted cocktail parties for Big Tech CEOs before issuing executive orders to thwart tech regulation. The Department of Homeland Security handed a $1 billion contract to execute mass deportations to a company allied with Trump. Meanwhile, the Trump family has profited billions of dollars via cryptocurrency deals while actively deregulating the industry.

In the face of all of this, a nonstop barrage all year long, it would have been easy to look away, to give up. But across the country, so many people found ways to fight back however they could.

This year, End Citizens United fought political corruption in numerous ways. Their work will continue – and expand – next year for the all-important 2026 midterm elections. We wanted to close out 2025 with a rundown of how ECU organized to fight the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress and in the states over the past 12 months:

Working to Unrig Washington. American voters know the political system is corrupt and isn’t working for them. In the aftermath of the 2024 elections, ECU conducted polling and found that many battleground voters trusted Republicans more than Democrats to take on corruption. Given the scale of Trump and other Republicans’ self-dealing, that may be a surprise to some of us, but ECU recognized that Democrats needed to lean into a strong anti-corruption message to earn trust and win elections.

To that end, ECU launched its Unrig Washington program. Over 120 (and counting) Democratic members of Congress and challengers committed to a clear set of anti-corruption principles. Each participant rejects corporate PAC money, supports banning congressional stock trading, and works to end the influence of dark money in elections. You can donate to End Citizens United’s campaign here.

This year, voters across the country – in Georgia, New Jersey, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and elsewhere – made clear that they’re drawn to candidates who speak directly and candidly about how corruption harms everyday people. Ahead of next year’s midterm elections, Unrig Washington’s emphasis on fighting corruption provides Democratic candidates across the party’s ideological spectrum with a strong, unified message that speaks to what voters want their elected officials to do: wrest power back from moneyed interests and make life fairer for everyday people.

Holding Corrupt Political Actors to Account. This year, ECU filed several ethics and campaign finance complaints with the Federal Elections Commission and other oversight offices. One complaint filed this July demanded that the Department of Justice and U.S. Office of Government Ethics investigate whether Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had violated campaign finance laws when she accepted a $80,000 personal payment from a dark money group when she was governor. Another complaint calls for an investigation of Representative Young Kim of California for failing to disclose nearly $50,000 of privately sponsored travel. As Republicans have dismantled and disempowered government watchdog agencies, the work of independent watchdogs like End Citizens United have become even more important for establishing a public record of corruption.

ECU also helped the public understand the threats of the rising oligarchy and what we can do to fight back. The organization’s president, Tiffany Muller, was regularly cited in national and local media calling attention to Republicans’ self-dealing and the dismantling of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), along with explaining to the press and public how and why campaign finance reform and fighting corruption is a necessary first step to getting the country back on track. A great example is an article in the Bulwark that describes the trajectory from the Citizens United decision to Trump.

Fighting for Anti-Corruption Reforms. Republicans control Congress – for now. So, we can’t expect ambitious anti-corruption reform to start moving until and unless Democrats win in the midterms next year. Nonetheless, ECU’s public affairs team found ways to advance anti-corruption measures. ECU endorsed more than two dozen anti-corruption bills, including legislation to limit the influence of lobbyists, corporations, and big money in politics, end dark money, and increase transparency. ECU also helped members of Congress develop their own anti-corruption policies.

Among the many bills that ECU got behind this year was the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2025, which seeks to protect voting rights in an era when the Supreme Court gutted much of the Voting Rights Act. Voting rights advocates will undoubtedly keep up the fight next year. The battle to ban congressional stock trading wages onward with multiple bills up for discussion in Congress, so stay tuned for more on those efforts next year. You can support End Citizens United’s work here.

Bringing people together. None of us can do this alone. That’s why, over the course of 2025, ECU hosted in-person and virtual townhalls, grassroots organizing briefings, and other events focused on getting more people involved in advocating for anti-corruption reforms.

Town halls were held in states across the country, including Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, and Washington, and anti-corruption advocates, candidates, and elected officials drew attention to local members of Congress’s voting records.

Thousands of volunteers joined in. And their efforts paid off. In one example, ECU contributed efforts to the pivotal Pennsylvania Supreme Court races, and the Democratic candidates won in landslides – which will mean protected abortion rights, election integrity, and environmental standards.

Check out ECUOrganize.org for more on how you can get plugged into more anti-corruption organization and advocacy.

Most importantly: Thank you for being here, and Happy New Year.