Donald Trump offered a series of ethics reforms at a rally on Monday, including offering his support for a constitutional amendment requiring term limits for members of Congress.
“If I’m elected president I will push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of congress. They’ve been talking about that for years,” Trump said to enthusiastic applause in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “Decades of failure in Washington and decades of special interest dealing must and will come to an end.”
Trump also launched into a series of limits on lobbyists and politicians, declaring “It is indeed time to drain the swamp in Washington D.C.”
Trump’s “package of ethics reforms” included five limitations on lobbyists, though he would only have the executive authority to carry out three of them, at most: a five-year ban on all executive branch officials lobbying the government after they leave public service, an expansion of the definition of lobbying to include “consultants” and “advisers”, and a lifetime ban on executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of foreign governments.
Two of Trump’s proposals—asking Congress to institute its own five year ban on lobbying by former members and their staffs, and asking Congress to pass a ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for political candidates—would require congressional approval.
Trump’s ethics reform push comes on the heels of WikiLeaks publishing a series of emails from Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, over the weekend, which revealed an internal debate among top Clinton aides over whether accepting campaign contributions bundled by foreign lobbyists was worth the perception of foreign influence on the presidential election.
“I’m ok just taking the money and dealing with any attacks,” Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, wrote.
“Take the money!!” agreed communications director Jennifer Palmieri.
Speaking of foreign influence: For months, Trump’s campaign has repeatedly solicited non-citizens—including many foreign lawmakers—for campaign contributions, despite numerous complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission that claim his campaign is in clear violation of the law.
