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TOPLINE

House Democrats pushed past Republican opposition Wednesday to pass sweeping ethics, government and electoral reforms that would vastly expand voting access, boost transparency to political financing and institute more powerful ethical oversight for members of Congress, the president and Supreme Court justices.   

KEY FACTS

The For the People Act, dubbed House Resolution 1 (H.R. 1), is a key Democratic priority intended to restore faith in the U.S. electoral system, strike down barriers to voting and increase government accountability and was passed with a 220-210 vote.

The bill would bring about some of the most significant changes to U.S. voting law in decades, and would force states to hand over the power to draw congressional district boundaries to independent commissions. 

States would also be required to automatically register eligible voters, restore voting rights to former felons and offer early voting and no-excuse absentee balloting. 

Republicans fiercely oppose the bill—which President Biden has said he will sign into law if passed by both houses—deeming it a self-serving power grab by Democrats that limits political speech.  

In addition to electoral reforms, the bill would also bring about wide-reaching ethics and accountability reforms, including a code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court justices, a ban on congressional legislators sitting on corporate boards and bringing transparency to campaign financing. 

The bill would also require presidents and vice presidents to make their tax returns publicly available, something Donald Trump consistently refused to do. 

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