Press Releases Archive
On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Democracy 21 President Wertheimer received the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government for 2025. Previous recipients of the nonpartisan award include President Barack Obama, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Senator John McCain, and Representatives John Lewis and Liz Cheney. The following are Wertheimer’s remarks at the award […]
Democracy 21 joined with Campaign Legal Center and 18 other good government partners to urge U.S. Representatives to approve the board of the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) so that the House of Representatives can conduct investigations and review allegations of misconduct. As Roll Call recently pointed out, House leaders have yet to appoint members […]
This op-ed is adapted from a piece that first appeared in Courier Newsroom. How The Opinions Of Two Supreme Court Justices Paved the Way for the Musk Era By: Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21, and Don Simon, Counsel, Democracy 21 It took Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, to illustrate to Americans just […]
In a letter to U.S. Representatives, the Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD) — a coalition including Democracy 21 and more than 260 organizations working to strengthen U.S. democracy — strongly opposed the SAVE Act which the House is expected to vote on this week. According to the letter: “Congress has a constitutional responsibility to safeguard […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Kash Patel’s 51-49 confirmation today as FBI Director – nominated by President Trump and confirmed by all but two of the Republican Senators – is a dangerous threat to the nation and a disaster for the FBI. Patel is an outspoken enemy of the FBI he now leads, […]
Ahead of Friday’s Senate confirmation hearing on Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, 58 civil and human rights organizations, including Democracy 21, have urged the Senate to oppose Patel’s confirmation. Given the FBI’s vast authority, “the bureau’s leadership must be entrusted to someone who will uphold the U.S. Constitution, respect the rule of law, […]
Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer has been awarded the 2025 Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. The prestigious award is given annually by the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. The award honors “government and private citizens who significantly contribute to the practice and understanding of ethical behavior and […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer President Donald Trump’s pardons and commuting of sentences today of convicted criminals who carried out the January 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 are a national disgrace. The pardons and commutations are part of Trump’s continuing effort to rewrite history. Trump will fail. Historians write […]
In a Truth Social post on November 30, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Kash Patel to be the director of the FBI. Last week, current FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed by Trump in 2017 to a 10-year term, announced he would step down before Trump is sworn into office. Historian and journalist Garrett Graff […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer This past weekend, President-elect Donald Trump said in an NBC “Meet the Press” interview that “everybody” on the House January 6 Committee “should go to jail.” This is an example of Trump’s presidential revenge and retribution tour. It is the same kind of approach used by dictators like […]
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