Repairing the Machinery of U.S. Democracy

HR 1, the legislation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced in the first hours of the 116th Congress, is ambitious and remarkably wide-ranging. It proposes numerous electoral and public-ethics reforms. In most cases, these changes are both needed and long overdue…. Representative John Sarbanes of Maryland, the lead sponsor of HR 1, says the bill will be broken into pieces and sent to relevant committees for hearings and markups. Then the elements will be reconstituted, voted on as a single reform package and presented to the Senate.... The machinery of American government is sorely in need of repair, and putting that right should not be a partisan endeavor. This bill deserves serious consideration.