The U.S. Senate confirmed Jonathan Kanter as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice by a bipartisan vote of 68-29 on November 16, 2021, and he was sworn in the same day. Kanter’s confirmation came after the longest delay for a nominee to lead the …
Jonathan KanterDepartment of JusticeU.S. SenateAntitrust Divisionantitrustdojbiden-administrationregulatory-reformbig-tech+1 more
Former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen testifies before the U.S. Senate that Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division, and weaken democracy, backed by tens of thousands of internal company documents showing Facebook executives knew about Instagram’s severe mental health …
Frances HaugenFacebookMark ZuckerbergU.S. SenateRichard Blumenthalfacebookwhistleblowerfrances-haugenalgorithm-harmteen-mental-health+5 more
The U.S. Senate confirmed Lina Khan to the Federal Trade Commission by a bipartisan vote of 69-28 on June 15, 2021, and President Biden immediately named her chair of the five-member Commission. At 32, Khan became the youngest commissioner ever confirmed to the agency, let alone to lead it. Khan …
Lina KhanJoe BidenU.S. SenateFederal Trade Commissionantitrustftcbiden-administrationregulatory-reformlina-khan+1 more
President Joe Biden nominated Frank Kendall for Air Force Secretary in May 2021 despite Kendall having received $702,319 in consulting fees from Northrop Grumman as part of a $300,000 per year consulting contract after serving as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics …
Frank KendallNorthrop GrummanU.S. Air ForceJoe BidenU.S. Senaterevolving doormilitary-industrial complexdefense contractorscorruptionconflicts of interest+2 more
House passes Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act requiring disclosure of corporate political spending, but Republican leadership blocks Senate consideration to protect dark money donors
Chuck SchumerChris Van HollenMitch McConnellBarack ObamaHouse of Representatives+1 morelegislative-responsecampaign-finance-reformcorporate-disclosurepolitical-obstructiontransparency+2 more
After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (cap-and-trade climate bill) on June 26, 2009, the Koch brothers’ network immediately launched a massive campaign to kill the legislation in the Senate. Americans for Prosperity, whose top …
Koch brothersCharles KochDavid KochAmericans for ProsperityHeritage Foundation+4 moreclimate-denialregulatory-capturelobbyingenvironmentalcorporate-corruption+1 more
Senator Arlen Specter announces on March 24, 2009, that he will not support the Employee Free Choice Act, effectively killing labor’s top legislative priority despite Democratic control of the presidency and both houses of Congress. EFCA would have allowed workers to form unions through …
Barack ObamaU.S. Chamber of CommerceBusiness RoundtableAFL-CIOU.S. Senate+1 morelaborlabor-law-reformcorporate-lobbyingcard-checkfilibuster+1 more
Congress passes the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution based on the systematically manipulated intelligence provided by the White House Iraq Group, representing the successful completion of WHIG’s campaign to corrupt legislative war powers. The House votes 296-133 …
White House Iraq GroupU.S. House of RepresentativesU.S. SenateHillary ClintonJohn Kerry+6 morewhigiraq-war-authorizationcongressional-deceptionconstitutional-crisisseparation-of-powers+3 more
In the early evening of Friday, December 15, 2000, with Christmas recess only hours away and the presidential election still unresolved, the U.S. Senate rushes to pass an essential 11,000-page government reauthorization bill. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas inserts a complex 262-page amendment - the …
Phil GrammU.S. SenateU.S. House of RepresentativesBill ClintonEnron Corporationderivativescfmalegislative-corruptionenron-loopholelame-duck+2 more
President Bill Clinton signs the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000, granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status and ending the annual congressional review process that had existed since 1980 under Jackson-Vanik provisions. The House passed the legislation on May 24, 2000 and the …
Bill ClintonU.S. SenateU.S. House of RepresentativesChinese governmentCorporate Lobbies+1 morechinatrade-policywtopntrglobalization+3 more
The U.S. Senate confirms Lawrence Summers as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury, replacing Robert Rubin and continuing the aggressive deregulation agenda. Summers had spent the previous year as Deputy Secretary orchestrating opposition to derivatives regulation, including making an “irate …
Lawrence SummersBill ClintonRobert RubinU.S. SenateWall Street derivatives dealerstreasuryderivativesderegulationrevolving-doorfinancial-crisis+2 more
The U.S. Senate votes to acquit President Bill Clinton on both articles of impeachment following a five-week trial. On the perjury charge (Article I), the Senate votes 45-55, with 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voting “not guilty.” On the obstruction of justice charge (Article II), the …
Bill ClintonU.S. SenateSenate RepublicansSenate Democratsimpeachmentpresidential-accountabilityconstitutional-processsenate-trial
Zoe Baird withdraws her nomination as Attorney General after revelations that she employed undocumented immigrants as household workers and failed to pay required Social Security taxes. The scandal, dubbed “Nannygate,” generates intense public backlash despite the commonplace nature of …
Bill ClintonZoe BairdU.S. SenateKimba WoodJanet Renoimmigrationpolitical-scandalattorney-generalenforcement-hypocrisyemployer-sanctions
The United States Senate rejected President Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court by a vote of 42-58 on October 23, 1987, marking the first time in nearly a century that the Senate rejected a Supreme Court nominee primarily on the basis of ideology rather than qualifications …
Robert BorkRonald ReaganEdward KennedyLewis PowellAnthony Kennedy+4 moresupreme-courtjudicial-capturefederalist-societyconservative-movementantitrust-abandonment+3 more
The U.S. Senate passes a resolution on the 200th anniversary of the Constitution formally recognizing that “the original framers of the Constitution, including most notably, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, are known to have greatly admired the concepts, principles and governmental …
U.S. SenateHaudenosaunee ConfederacySix Nationsindigenous-democracyconstitutional-historydemocratic-foundationshistorical-acknowledgmenthaudenosaunee-confederacy
After six cloture attempts fail to break a Senate filibuster, the Labor Law Reform Act of 1978 dies on June 22, marking the most significant corporate lobbying victory since Taft-Hartley and demonstrating that even with Democratic supermajorities and a Democratic president, business interests can …
Business RoundtableU.S. Chamber of CommerceNational Association of ManufacturersAFL-CIOU.S. Senate+1 morelaborlabor-lawfilibustercorporate-lobbyingbusiness-roundtable+1 more
On April 22, 1975, the Senate formally established the Church Committee to investigate systematic abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies. Led by Senator Frank Church, the committee exposed unprecedented violations of constitutional rights by the CIA, NSA, and FBI, including illegal surveillance of …
Senator Frank ChurchSenator John TowerU.S. SenateCIANSA+2 moreinstitutional-resistanceintelligence-oversightdemocratic-safeguardsconstitutional-rightsgovernment-accountability
Lewis F. Powell Jr. was sworn in as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on January 7, 1972, after being nominated by President Nixon and confirmed by the Senate with an overwhelming 89-1 vote. A corporate lawyer with board memberships in 11 major corporations, Powell’s appointment …
Lewis F. Powell Jr.Richard NixonSupreme CourtU.S. Senatepowell-supreme-courtjudicial-capturecorporate-interestsconstitutional-interpretationnixon-administration
President Nixon nominates corporate lawyer Lewis Powell to Supreme Court as Associate Justice, just 59 days after Powell wrote confidential memo to Chamber of Commerce calling for business to acquire “political power” and use courts as “most important instrument for social, …
Richard NixonLewis F. Powell Jr.U.S. SenateWilliam H. Rehnquistsupreme-court-nominationjudicial-capturepowell-memo-implementationcorporate-judicial-strategy
On February 26, 1954, the United States Senate rejected the Bricker Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have severely limited the President’s treaty-making power. The amendment, backed by conservative Republicans and corporate groups including the American Bar Association …
John BrickerDwight D. EisenhowerAmerican Bar AssociationU.S. SenateAmerican Medical Association+1 moreisolationismcongressional-actionconstitutional-amendmentcold-warcorporate-interests
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, popularly known as the Kefauver Committee after chairman Senator Estes Kefauver (D-TN), convenes televised hearings in New York City in March 1951 that become the most widely viewed congressional investigation to …
Estes KefauverU.S. SenateFrank CostelloVirginia Hillorganized-crimetelevised-hearingscongressional-investigationpublic-spectacle
Senator Harry S. Truman establishes the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program (Truman Committee) after witnessing widespread waste and profiteering in war production. Over the next four years, the committee will save an estimated $10-15 billion by uncovering fraud and …
Harry S. TrumanU.S. SenateDefense contractorswar-profiteeringcongressional-oversightdefense-industryinstitutional-accountability
On July 22, 1937, the U.S. Senate votes 70-22 to defeat President Franklin Roosevelt’s Judicial Procedures Reform Bill, rejecting his proposal to expand the Supreme Court by up to six additional justices and handing FDR his greatest legislative defeat. Three-quarters of senators voting to kill …
U.S. SenateFranklin D. RooseveltSenate Judiciary CommitteeJoseph RobinsonJohn Nance Garner+1 morejudicial-independencenew-dealsupreme-courtseparation-of-powerscongressional-opposition+1 more
The Senate Subcommittee on Education and Labor, chaired by Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. of Wisconsin, begins hearings on June 6, 1936, launching a four-year investigation that systematically exposes the violent and illegal tactics American corporations use to suppress union organizing. The La …
Robert La Follette Jr.U.S. SenatePinkerton Detective AgencyBurns Detective AgencyRepublic Steel+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-surveillanceunion-bustingcongressional-investigationprivate-security
The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry, chaired by Senator Gerald Nye (R-ND), begins operations on April 12, 1934, to investigate the financial and banking interests underlying American involvement in World War I and the enormous profits reaped by industrial and …
Gerald NyeU.S. SenateJ.P. Morgan Jr.Pierre du Pontmunitions manufacturers+1 morewar-profiteeringcorporate-corruptionmilitary-industrial-complexinvestigationsworld-war-i
Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact (officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy) in Paris, eventually ratified by 62 nations. The treaty solemnly renounces war as an instrument of …
Frank KelloggAristide BriandCalvin CoolidgeU.S. Senateforeign-policyinstitutional-captureinternational-lawimperialism
On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The Senate vote came nearly 18 months …
U.S. SenateU.S. House of RepresentativesWoodrow WilsonNational American Woman Suffrage AssociationNational Woman's Partywomens-suffrageconstitutional-amendmentdemocratic-expansioncongressional-action
Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, enters the Senate chamber and beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts nearly to death with a metal-topped cane, striking him repeatedly on the head while Sumner attempts futilely to protect himself. The attack follows …
Preston BrooksCharles SumnerAndrew ButlerU.S. SenateU.S. House of Representativespolitical-violenceslave-powerinstitutional-corruptionbleeding-kansassenate-violence
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed February 2, 1848, ends the Mexican-American War by forcing Mexico to cede 55 percent of its territory—including present-day California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming—to the United States for …
U.S. SenateMexicoMexican AmericansU.S. governmentAnglo settlerstreaty-guadalupe-hidalgoland-theftmexican-american-wartreaty-violationinstitutional-corruption+1 more
On August 8, 1846, amidst the Mexican-American War, Democratic Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduces an amendment to President James Polk’s $2 million appropriation bill for purchasing territory from Mexico, boldly declaring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude …
David WilmotJames K. PolkU.S. House of RepresentativesU.S. SenateNorthern Democrats+1 morewilmot-provisoslavery-expansionsectional-conflictmexican-american-warterritorial-expansion+1 more
The Senate voted 26-to-20 on March 28, 1834, to censure President Andrew Jackson for unconstitutionally removing federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States and placing them in state-chartered “pet banks.” The resolution, introduced by Henry Clay, declared that Jackson …
Andrew JacksonHenry ClayRoger TaneyWilliam DuaneU.S. Senateinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionfinancial-deregulationexecutive-overreachdemocratic-erosion
The U.S. Senate approves the Louisiana Purchase treaty by a vote of 24-7, with President Thomas Jefferson abandoning his strict constructionist constitutional principles to complete the acquisition of French territory despite acknowledging the Constitution grants no explicit power to purchase …
President Thomas JeffersonTreasury Secretary Albert GallatinU.S. SenateNapoleon BonaparteFranceconstitutional-conflictexecutive-powerstrict-constructionpolitical-hypocrisyterritorial-expansion
President John Adams signs the Judiciary Act of 1801 less than three weeks before the end of his term and the Federalist majority in Congress, expanding the federal judiciary by creating sixteen new circuit court judgeships and reducing the Supreme Court from six to five justices. After losing the …
President John AdamsFederalist PartyU.S. SenateWilliam Marburyjudicial-capturecourt-packinglame-duck-powerinstitutional-manipulationpolitical-corruption