Ro Khanna on Drain the Swamp Act

Representative Ro Khanna introduced the Drain the Swamp Act, legislation aimed at codifying key White House ethics rules that he asserts were recently rescinded by the sitting president. He explicitly named the bill after the former president's 2016 campaign slogan to highlight a perceived hypocrisy in the current administration's rollback of ethics provisions. The core intent of the legislation is to convert ethics requirements, previously established by executive order, into permanent law so that future presidents cannot easily undo them through unilateral action. This measure seeks to rebuild public trust in government institutions by enforcing strict anti-corruption standards for executive branch personnel.

The proposed act contains several explicit provisions designed to curb influence from special interests and prevent conflicts of interest among administration officials. Key elements include a prohibition on appointees accepting gifts from registered lobbyists, the establishment of two-year cooling-off periods for officials entering and leaving government service, and a ban on certain post-service lobbying activities. Khanna, who states he refuses all political action committee and lobbyist donations, framed the introduction as necessary to reclaim anti-corruption as a signature Democratic issue and prevent the monetization of political influence at the governmental level.