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Video: The movement to ban congressional stock trading

The Movement to Ban Congressional Stock Trading with Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Rep. Chip Roy

Issue One, National Taxpayers Union (NTU), and the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) hosted a conversation with Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Chip Roy (R-TX) — as well as former Representatives Brian Baird (D-WA) and Zach Wamp (R-TN) — about the movement to ban congressional stock trading that is making headlines and generating bipartisan support across the country. The discussion examined why an overwhelming majority of Americans support prohibiting members of Congress, their spouses, and their children from buying and selling stocks while in office, and what Congress can do to address this issue.

The conversation was moderated by Warren Rojas from Business Insider, and was followed by a Q&A with Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of POGO, Andrew Lautz from NTU, and Camila DeChalus of Business Insider.

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Project 2025 and the Assault on Immigrant Rights
the statue of liberty is shown against a blue sky
Photo by Chris Linnett on Unsplash

Project 2025 and the Assault on Immigrant Rights

This essay is part of a series by Lawyers Defending American Democracy explaining how many of the administration’s executive actions harm individuals throughout the country and demonstrate the link between these actions and their roots in the authoritarian blueprint, Project 2025.

The Impact of Executive Edicts On Immigration – At War With Ourselves

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Those enduring words from the poem by Emma Lazarus were inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty about 160 years ago. Today, Donald Trump routinely delivers a very different message. As he sees it, nations around the world “are emptying their mental institutions and insane asylums,” and sending the residents to the United States. “They are also coming from Africa, the Congo in Africa, from prisons in Congo.” “They are coming in from Asia. They’re coming in from the Middle East.”

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Elbows Up, Arms Crossed
people gathering near green trees during daytime
Photo by Malu Laker on Unsplash

Elbows Up, Arms Crossed

Last month, 23andMe announced it was filing for bankruptcy, and dozens of states are suing to stop the company from selling off personal data. Yet, unlike for-profit businesses, lawyers in nonprofit organizations cannot just stop representing clients when funding ends. We continue the representation until the matter is concluded. This is a quagmire; immigration cases such as a U Visa can take 30 years to process from start to finish.

We also have a duty of confidentiality of information. This means that we cannot disclose information about representation. I remember learning, as a young attorney, that much like a doctor or therapist, if I saw a client in public, I could not speak to them or disclose that I knew them, unless they initiated that contact. The fact that I was a lawyer and guarded their secrets means everything.

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Congress Bill Spotlight: Congress Meeting in Philadelphia on Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary

New legislation would convene Congress at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the site of the Declaration of Independence’s signing on July 4, 1776, for the 250th anniversary on July 2, 2026.

Getty Images, Douglas Rissing

Congress Bill Spotlight: Congress Meeting in Philadelphia on Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary

Hopefully, Nicolas Cage wouldn’t steal it this time, like he did in 2004’s implausible adventure movie National Treasure.

What the bill does

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U.S. Strikes Iran Nuclear Sites: Trump’s Pivot Amid Middle East Crisis

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine discusses the mission details of a strike on Iran during a news conference at the Pentagon on June 22, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia.

(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

U.S. Strikes Iran Nuclear Sites: Trump’s Pivot Amid Middle East Crisis

In his televised address to the nation Saturday night regarding the U.S. strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump declared that the attacks targeted “the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.” He framed the operation as a necessary response to decades of Iranian aggression, citing past attacks on U.S. personnel and Tehran’s support for militant proxies.

While those justifications were likely key drivers, the decision to intervene was also shaped by a complex interplay of political strategy, alliance dynamics, and considerations of personal legacy.

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