Denver — Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet announced that he has joined the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Bennet will also remain a member of the Senate Committee On Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“We are living at a moment of unprecedented challenges to American democracy. With dark money in our elections, widespread hate speech and disinformation on social media, and states making it harder to vote, our nation’s democratic systems need passionate champions,” said Bennet. “I’m grateful to join the Rules Committee to continue my work to protect and renew our democracy.”
The Rules Committee has oversight responsibility for federal elections and presidential succession. The committee’s origins date back to the early days of the Republic, when the first Senate convened in March 1789 and established a committee to prepare a system of rules for conducting business in the Senate. In the 117th Congress, the Rules Committee passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 to ensure the orderly transfer of presidential power, as well as processed legislation related to voting rights reform.
Bennet is a leading advocate for reforms to protect our democracy, expand access to the ballot box, and fight the influence of money in politics. Since coming to the Senate, he has consistently supported legislation that would ban Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists. He also champions a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, which would restore the authority of Congress, states, and the American people to regulate campaign finance.
Last year, Bennet introduced the ZOMBIE Act to require politicians who are no longer running for office to close their old campaign accounts and the Voter Choice Act to boost adoption of a ranked choice voting model for elections, also known as an “instant runoff.” Bennet is also an original co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act to crack down on “dark money” organizations by requiring them to disclose their spending and major sources of funding in a timely manner.