POGO -- The next Congress needs to start by doing these three things

 

Hi friend,   The votes are being counted, and the next Congress is about to take shape. Congress has a mandate from the public. It is time to hold the administration accountable and reform the laws, norms, and policies that aren't working for the public.    Change must begin in January. We are ready for it as a country. What the public is asking for: For members of Congress to stop trading stocks while writing the laws that move markets. For intelligence agencies to be blocked from reaching into your private data without a warrant. And for ICE, with its historic funding and growing power, to stop operating with too little oversight and too few restraints.     Our government needs to earn back our trust. Not by following the old rules that aren’t keeping anyone, from the president to Congress, in check. We need new rules, more oversight, and more transparency. No person and no institution with this much power over our lives should be above scrutiny.   At POGO, we’ve spent more than four decades as your independent, nonpartisan watchdog working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to fight exactly these kinds of abuses of power, and we won’t stop when the news cycle moves on.     So here’s our plan. The next Congress needs to start by doing these three things:

End congressional stock trading and the use of prediction markets. Polling shows more than 80% of voters across party lines back a stock trading ban. We’ve seen the loophole-ridden imitations. We're fighting for Congress to enact real, enforceable bans with clear penalties. Stop warrantless surveillance. Section 702, the provision often used to justify warrantless surveillance, expired when Congress couldn't reach a deal this year. The next Congress has to finish the job with real reform: warrant requirements for government agencies to seize your communications, eliminating funding for mass surveillance on the American people, and a closed data broker loophole.   Hold ICE accountable. Lawmakers cited POGO’s work in at least six oversight letters on ICE contracting last year. We're pressing Congress to stop funding ICE surges in our towns and states that harm our communities and lives.

None of this happens by itself. It happens because people like you make it impossible for Congress to look away. In 2025, our supporters sent more than 60,000 messages to Congress, and that pressure works.     The next Congress will decide what it prioritizes soon, and without sustained pressure these three priorities won’t make the list. But with you, we can push Congress members to make these issues the first order of business, and to build a government that works for the people.     Thank you for joining us.    — POGO