- Democratic US Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow releases new anti-corruption agenda
- Ideas include banning corporate political spending in elections and exploring ‘every option’ for US Supreme Court reform
- All three Democratic candidates have championed some form of government transparency reform, though their approaches differ
Michigan Democratic US Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow wants to “explore every option” to reform the US Supreme Court, including expansion, age limits and implementing an independent code of conduct could help curb abuses of power and prevent conflicts of interest.
The proposal, shared first with Bridge Michigan, is part of the state lawmaker’s new anti-corruption agenda that also calls for bans on corporate political spending, a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision and additional financial disclosure requirements for PACs and dark money groups.
“It has been stunning to me that the one issue that cuts across everybody is just this seething rage that politics and government is corrupt,” McMorrow told Bridge. “This felt like a critically important thing to do.”
RELATED:
- Senate candidates clash over clean power future
- Michigan Dems debate Israel, agree to support nominee
- Dems talk campaign cash, health care in heated US Senate debate
McMorrow’s plan includes proposed bans on several actions taken by Republican President Donald Trump, including using the Justice Department to settle personal legal claims, purging career civil servants and maintaining outside business interests.
She also wants to prevent former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists and require government consultants and other advisors to register the same way as lobbyists do, criticizing GOP nominee Mike Rogers for his post-congressional work with cybersecurity businesses and service on several advisory boards.
Any reforms targeting Trump would likely be a nonstarter while he remains in office or if Republicans retain majority control of Congress, but McMorrow said she believes there are still opportunities for meaningful bipartisan reform to return to “the norms Trump has broken” that may help restore public trust in government.
Supreme Court reforms
The prospect of changing the US Supreme Court, whose nine members are appointed by presidents and serve lifetime appointments, has gained traction among progressives as the court’s conservative supermajority grows.
Shortly after the court dismantled a key section of the Voting Rights Act last month, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the court “can and should be better,” arguing that courts are apolitical and “not supposed to be issuing rulings that are in the political realm.”
A good place to start, McMorrow said, would be to follow Michigan’s example of setting an age limit for Supreme Court justices, as well as implement a code of conduct “where the judges on the Supreme Court are not overseeing themselves,” citing reports of justices accepting lavish gifts worth millions while serving.
McMorrow’s opponents in the Democratic US Senate primary, former Wayne County public health official Abdul El-Sayed and sitting US Rep. Haley Stevens, have also supported ethics reform in the courts, though their approaches vary.
On his campaign website, El-Sayed refers to the Supreme Court as a “major impediment to democracy,” citing decisions to limit voting, civil and reproductive rights. He wants to end lifetime appointments, impose term limits and allow the same number of court appointments for each presidential term
Stevens told WDET in February that all three branches of government “have some real need for reforms” and said it would be “more than appropriate” to look at term or age limits.
Corporate influence
The influence of campaign cash has become a hot topic in Michigan’s US Senate race, with two of three Democratic candidates refusing donations from political action committees representing corporations.
McMorrow accepted corporate donations in past state legislative cycles, but she opted not to do so in her US Senate campaign. Her anti-corruption agenda includes support for a full ban on corporate PAC spending in elections and additional financial disclosures for PAC and dark money groups.
El-Sayed, who regularly calls to get “money out of politics,” frequently reminds the public that he’s the only candidate who has “never taken a dime of corporate money,” and he has criticized his opponents for doing so.
During a recent US Senate debate on Mackinac Island, El-Sayed challenged his opponents, “If you’re on the stage and you have never taken a corporate PAC check from Blue Cross Blue Shield, raise your hand.” Blue Cross Blue Shield is a major sponsor of the Mackinac Policy Conference where the debate took place.
Federal campaign finance records show Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s political action committee gave Stevens’ US House campaign $2,500 in April 2025. McMorrow’s state Senate campaign received $5,500 more than six years ago from a BCMC-affiliated PAC, according to state campaign finance records.
Stevens, who has continued to accept corporate campaign donations in her US Senate campaign, previously told Bridge she’s repeatedly sponsored and voted for campaign finance reform legislation, calling it “deeply frustrating” that Senate Republicans have blocked those efforts.
She added that she’s “not afraid to stand up to corporations,” citing past legislation she supported to hold utilities accountable for raising rates.
Stevens last month introduced legislation to ban stock trading by members of Congress.
In her new plan, McMorrow said she’d like to ban stock trading and prediction market betting by federal officials and prohibit them, their spouses or dependents from “from issuing and promoting any financial product — meme coins or otherwise.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.