Step 1 · The idea in one minute

The same rules for every official, left or right.

Americans disagree about a lot. Most of us agree on this: no one in government should be above the rules, and no one should get rich off the job. The Public Trust Act writes that into law, for whichever party is in charge.

It fixes the system, not one person.

Over the last few years, officials have used gaps in the law that any President, any Congress or any agency could use next. The act closes those gaps for everyone at once, starting with whoever holds office the day it passes.

It protects your money, your rights and your vote.

The money Congress approves reaches your schools and towns on time. Federal agents follow clear rules. Your personal data stays private. Officials can’t trade stocks on what they learn at work.

It’s built to last.

Courts, watchdogs and ordinary citizens can enforce these rules, so they don’t depend on the goodwill of the people they’re meant to check.

Who it covers

Everyone who holds public power, in both parties.

Presidents & Vice PresidentsMembers of CongressJudges & JusticesPolitical appointeesCareer employeesFederal agentsMilitary leadershipFamilies & senior staff (trading rules)

Why now? Because both sides have felt it.

You may remember different examples depending on where you sit. The fix is the same.

If you lean left, you may remember

About 17 inspectors general removed in one night in January 2025, without the 30 days’ notice the law requires.
National Guard troops sent into cities over governors’ objections.
$6.8 billion in school funds held back in July 2025 after Congress approved it.

If you lean right, you may remember

The IRS giving Tea Party and other conservative groups extra scrutiny, some waiting more than three years, as an inspector general found in 2013.
Members of Congress in both parties trading stocks while writing the rules; 87% of Republicans want it banned.
Over $1 billion in anonymous money flowing to super PACs, from groups aligned with both parties.

The lesson is the same on both sides: every power one administration uses will be available to the next one, run by the other party. Rules that bind everyone are the only rules that protect everyone.

Step 5 · What you’ll hear

The pitches, the pushback and who’s paying.

You’ll hear this proposal praised and attacked. Here is how each side is likely to talk about it, the strongest honest criticisms, and the answers.

How each side can make the case

The pitch to voters on the left

“Wins that last. An executive order can be undone in a day; a law enforced by courts and citizens survives the next administration.”
“Your state’s school and health funding can’t be quietly cancelled after Congress approves it.”
“Accountability for every federal agent: badges visible, cameras on, a judge’s warrant for your home.”
“We fix the system with rules, not revenge.”

The pitch to voters on the right

“Ask yourself what a Democratic President could do with these powers: declare emergencies, cancel border and defense money, aim the IRS at churches and conservative groups.”
“Congress makes the laws and spends the money. No President should rule by emergency.”
“No more insider trading by politicians, their families or their staff.”
“A warrant signed by a judge before any federal agent, including the IRS or ATF, enters your home.”

Fair criticisms, and the answers

Each criticism is stated in its strongest honest form.

How money and media are likely to play it

Expect different messengers to cheer different parts and attack others. Knowing who stands to gain or lose helps you read the ads.

Messenger	Likely to support	Likely to attack	What to watch for
Right-leaning cable, talk radio and websites	Insider-trading ban, limits on IRS and agency retaliation, votes on emergencies and spending	Immigration-agent rules, election and Supreme Court provisions, clean-energy credits	Framing the whole act by its most contested part
Left-leaning cable, podcasts and websites	Most of it, especially watchdogs, agent accountability and reproductive access	Neutral redistricting that limits blue states too; faster firing for misconduct; “too weak”	Turning a rules bill into a referendum on one person
Independent podcasters and creators	Anti-insider and anti-elite parts: trading ban, profiteering, war powers	Anything they see as more bureaucracy	Clips without context; check the bill text
Industry groups (energy, broadcasting, finance, crypto)	Predictable rules, honest statistics, a vote on tariffs	Ending oil and gas tax breaks; broadcast ownership limits; trading bans on crypto and prediction markets	“Job killer” ads paid for by the affected industry
Single-issue super PACs and anonymous-money groups (both sides)	Parts that hurt their opponents	Donor disclosure (Package 13), which would reveal their funders	Ads with no named donor; ask who paid
Good-government, libertarian and civil-liberties groups (left and right)	Watchdogs, war powers, data privacy, disclosure, warrants	Provisions they think go too far on speech or federal power	Useful detailed critiques; read them
Business associations	Statistics, Fed independence, votes on tariffs	Junk-fee rules and new private lawsuits	Support for some parts, opposition to others

Five questions to ask about any ad or segment

Who paid for it, and do they have to say?
Is it about the whole act, or one of 21 bills?
Does the rule apply to both parties? (Every core reform does.)
Would the speaker say the same thing if the other party were in power?
What does the bill actually say? Check step 7.

Step 7 · The details

The 21 packages, in plain English.

Each package is a separate bill under the Public Trust Act name, grouped into six parts that start with honest officials. Open any one to see how you benefit, why it can’t wait, what it does and what critics say.

Standard clauses included in every bill

The draft legislative text is a policy draft, not final bill language. Bracketed items, such as [confirm figure], are still being checked by legal drafters. Numbers in brackets inside the findings link to their sources.

An open letter

To the lawmakers who will decide.

To every Member of Congress, majority and minority, Democrat, Republican and independent:

You will be asked to vote on the Public Trust Act at a moment when it is tempting to judge every reform by one question: does it help my side or hurt the other? We ask you to judge it by a different question: what rules do you want in place on the day your party loses power? That day comes for every party. The rules you leave behind will govern how you, your voters and your causes are treated by people who disagree with you.

The pendulum is the danger

Modern democracies rarely collapse in a single blow. More often they wear down a step at a time. Each administration stretches the powers its predecessor stretched, the other side answers in kind when its turn comes, and every swing leaves the guardrails a little lower. Watchdogs are fired because the last ones were. Emergencies are declared because the last President declared them. Spending is cancelled, investigators are aimed and loyalty is tested, each time with the justification that “they did it first.” Followed long enough, that cycle ends somewhere neither party wants to live. This act stops the ratchet by writing one set of rules that binds both sides at once.

This act protects you, whichever side you are on

If you are in the majority, you will not be forever. These rules protect your voters, your donors’ privacy, your state’s funding and your own staff from the next administration.
If you are in the minority, these are the protections you are asking for today, and they will still bind your own party when it returns to power. That is what makes them credible.
If your party holds the White House, binding your own President is the strongest proof that you mean it. It is also the only way to make sure the next President of the other party is bound too.

It returns power to you

For decades Congress has handed authority to the executive: over spending, emergencies, tariffs, war and appointments. Every one of those handoffs made individual members less relevant to the decisions that matter most to your constituents. This act takes that authority back to the branch the Constitution put first, and to you.

The world is watching

Democracies everywhere, old and new, look to the United States as proof that self-government can work. Its rivals argue the opposite: that democracy is chaotic, captured by insiders and destined to swing between paralysis and strongmen. Every time power here is abused and answered with more abuse, that argument gains ground. Passing rules that bind every official, left and right, would show the world that a democracy can correct itself through law rather than through crisis. That is an example only Congress can set.

What we ask of you

Co-sponsor and vote for the core reforms.
Support them when your own party holds the White House.
Reject any version that exempts one party or one branch.
Apply the trading ban and disclosure rules to yourself now, before the law requires it.
Explain your vote to your constituents in public.

James Madison wrote that in a republic, “ambition must be made to counteract ambition” (Federalist No. 51). The founders did not count on good people holding power; they built rules for the times when they would not. This act renews that design for this century. History remembers the legislators who strengthened the republic when it would have been easier to win the next round. We ask you to be among them.

Support this work

Become a sponsor.

The Public Trust Act is written and maintained by one citizen, unpaid, with no party, PAC or donor behind it. Keeping it accurate and useful takes hundreds of hours: tracking new court rulings and executive actions, checking every finding against its source, redrafting bill text, and reading feedback from people on the left and the right. Your support lets that work continue and grow.

What your support makes possible

Keeping it current. Courts, Congress and agencies act every week. Support pays for the time to update the findings, sources and bill text so the plan stays accurate.
Refining and expanding the scope. As new events expose new gaps, the packages are sharpened and new reforms are added where they are needed.
Reaching the people who can make it happen. Bringing the plan to lawmakers, their staff, and the organizations and leaders with the influence to turn it into law.
Reaching more citizens. Getting the proposal in front of more voters across the spectrum, so the call for the same rules grows too broad to ignore.
Staying independent. Small contributions from many people keep this work free of any mega donor, which is exactly the problem it sets out to fix.

How much of this can be done, and how quickly, depends on the funding raised, what each effort costs, and which priorities matter most at the time.

Why now

The 2028 elections will decide who writes the next set of rules. A plan that is drafted, checked and understood by voters before January 2029 has a real chance of passing. One that is still being written does not. Every month of preparation now is a month saved when the window opens.

Our commitments to sponsors

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Contributions never buy influence over the content. Positions change only on the merits.
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Changes

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The same rules for every official, left or right.

It fixes the system, not one person.

It protects your money, your rights and your vote.

It’s built to last.

Who it covers

Why now? Because both sides have felt it.

Bad rules cost you money.

Six promises, written into law.

What it does not do

Check the reforms you support.

The core reforms

Also proposed, more debated

The pitches, the pushback and who’s paying.

How each side can make the case

Fair criticisms, and the answers

How money and media are likely to play it

Five questions to ask about any ad or segment

Ask every candidate the same eight questions.

Write to your representatives

Share it

Send your representatives the open letter

The 21 packages, in plain English.

To the lawmakers who will decide.

The pendulum is the danger

This act protects you, whichever side you are on

It returns power to you

The world is watching

What we ask of you

Help make it better.

Privacy statement.

Just reading the site

Feedback

Sponsorship

Who your information is shared with

How long it is kept

Your choices

Changes

About & sources

Sources

The same rules for every official, left or right.

It fixes the system, not one person.

It protects your money, your rights and your vote.

It’s built to last.

Who it covers

Why now? Because both sides have felt it.

Bad rules cost you money.

Six promises, written into law.

What it does not do

Check the reforms you support.

The core reforms

Also proposed, more debated

The pitches, the pushback and who’s paying.

How each side can make the case

Fair criticisms, and the answers

How money and media are likely to play it

Five questions to ask about any ad or segment

Ask every candidate the same eight questions.

Write to your representatives

Share it

Send your representatives the open letter

The 21 packages, in plain English.

To the lawmakers who will decide.

The pendulum is the danger

This act protects you, whichever side you are on

It returns power to you

The world is watching

What we ask of you

Help make it better.

Become a sponsor.

What your support makes possible

Why now

Our commitments to sponsors

Sponsorship terms

Privacy statement.

Just reading the site

Feedback

Sponsorship

Who your information is shared with

How long it is kept

Your choices

Changes

About & sources

Sources