EGX closes mixed on July 7th    Gold retreats as investors await tariff clarity    Egypt, UNDP discuss future health projects – Cabinet    Egypt calls for stronger central bank cooperation, local currency use at BRICS summit    BRICS summit declaration pushes for reformed multilateralism, greater Global South role    Egypt's PM, Uruguay's president discuss Gaza, trade at BRICS summit    Egypt's Talaat Moustafa Group H1 sales jump 59% to EGP 211bn    Egypt, Uruguay eager to expand trade across key sectors    Deadly Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza as Doha talks raise hopes for ceasefire    Egypt accelerates coastal protection projects amid rising climate threats    Egypt's PM calls Israeli war on Gaza 'most dangerous crisis' at BRICS summit    Egypt, Norway hold informal talks ahead of global plastic treaty negotiations    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Global tour for Korean 'K-Comics' launches in Cairo with 'Hellbound' exhibition    Philip Morris Misr announces new price list effective 1 July    Egypt teams up with private sector to boost university rankings    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger        Egypt's EHA, Schneider Electric sign MoU on sustainable infrastructure    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Grand Egyptian Museum opening delayed to Q4    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's EDA joins high-level Africa-Europe medicines regulatory talks    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Democrats propose sweeping bill to curb presidential abuses
Published in Ahram Online on 23 - 09 - 2020

House Democrats on Wednesday proposed a sweeping bill to curb presidential abuses, a pitch to voters weeks ahead of Election Day as they try to defeat President Donald Trump, capture the Senate from Republicans and keep their House majority.
The legislation, a wide-ranging package of new and revised bills, would limit the president's pardon power, strengthen laws to ban presidents from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments, better protect independent agency watchdogs and whistleblowers from firing or retribution and require better reporting by campaigns of foreign election interference.
Each of the bill's provisions is a response to actions by Trump or his administration that Democrats see as abuses of presidential power. It builds on an elections and ethics reform package the House passed soon after Democrats reclaimed the majority in 2019.
The sweeping reform package is ``designed to address the president's staggering litany of abuses and ensure they can never happen again by anyone,'' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who announced the legislation Wednesday along with the heads of seven House committees.
``America has a choice,'' Pelosi added, referring to the legislation but also the upcoming election: ''to repair and strengthen our democracy or to look the other way and enable (Trump's) actions.''
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who led Trump's impeachment last year, said the reform package was needed ``to constrain a lawless president`` who has ``shaken and broken guardrails'' in place since the beginning of the republic and strengthened after the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.
``We owe it to the American people to put in place meaningful constraints on power, fix what is broken and ensure there is never again a Richard Nixon or Donald Trump for either party,'' Schiff said.
Since taking office, Trump has placed his own personal and political interests above the national interest ``by protecting and enriching himself, targeting his political opponents, seeking foreign interference in our elections, eroding transparency, seeking to end accountability, and otherwise abusing the power of his office,'' Schiff and other committee chairs said in a joint statement.
The legislation comes as House Democrats have been repeatedly frustrated - including during impeachment - by efforts to gain information from the Trump administration and as officials have faced little consequence for defying subpoenas and ignoring requests and investigations. The bill would also strengthen congressional tools to enforce subpoenas by expediting the judicial process and allowing courts to fine officials who won't comply.
``Congressional subpoenas are not requests that recipients can easily brush aside,'' said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Instead, subpoenas are ''indispensable tools`` needed to hold the executive branch accountable for its actions, Neal and other Democrats said.
``The rule of law applies to every single person'' in the country, ``including the president,'' said Neal, who has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Trump's tax records.
Congress has yet to send to the president any legislation to try to curb foreign election interference after Russia meddled on several fronts in the 2016 presidential contest. Legislation passed by the House on election reform and other issues has been left unconsidered by the Republican-controlled Senate, and Democrats acknowledged there is little chance the new bill will be approved this year.
Schiff called the Senate under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ``a willing accomplice to many of the president's actions,'' but said the situation may change if Democrat Joe Biden is elected president. Republicans who once imposed constraints on presidential power may support Democratic efforts next year, Schiff said.
``The degradation of our democracy over the past 3 1/2 years is not the work of the president alone,'' Schiff said. ''Donald Trump could not have accomplished what he has in terms of undermining our democracy without the willing help of GOP partners in the Senate.''
In addition to strengthening reporting requirements for campaigns, the bill would clarify and enhance criminal penalties for campaigns that accept foreign information sought or obtained for political advantage.
The election provisions are a response to the Trump campaign's interactions with Russians during the 2016 campaign, including conversations between the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and intermediaries about information that could incriminate Democrat Hillary Clinton. A report by former special counsel Robert Mueller found multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, but determined there was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy between the two.


Clic here to read the story from its source.