The Transformative Leadership Initiative

Trust in our federal government is near its lowest point in a generation. Americans haven’t yet given up on our democracy but Washington has given them ample reason to. Gridlock, unchecked conflicts of interest, and a fiscal path that mortgages our children’s future have understandably convinced many citizens that the system is broken.

We firmly believe it can be fixed — by electing and empowering a critical mass of lawmakers willing to put country before party. This belief animates the Transformative Leadership Initiative, a flagship effort of New Statecraft Institute to identify and reward the reformers that our nation desperately needs.

Powered by New Statecraft’s nonpartisan research and analysis, the Initiative rests on two pillars:

The Transformative Leadership Accord will invite all candidates — from both parties, or no party — who are standing for election to Congress to commit to the shared premise that competitive elections, accountable institutions, and an end to generational fiscal irresponsibility are prerequisites for a government capable of solving problems that have long defied solution. Candidates who sign the Accord need not agree on every specific proposal. They need only agree that this kind of leadership is the necessary path forward.

The Transformative Leadership Scorecard will recognize federal lawmakers who champion the reforms the Accord calls for during a two-year term of Congress. The Initiative also hopes to produce model legislation to enact the prescribed reforms. In an environment that too often rewards obstruction, the Scorecard is designed to reward results.

Together, these tools can change the incentives that drive Washington. Candidates who sign the Accord can campaign on it. Legislators who earn strong Scorecard marks can proudly tout them.  And voters, journalists, and NGOs can rely on the Accord and the Scorecard to separate the genuine reformers from those who merely claim the label.

A copy of the inaugural Accord appears below. We expect its content will evolve with each election cycle as some of these high-priority reforms are achieved through legislation or rule-making.

The immediate objectives of the Transformative Leadership Initiative are to: (1) ensure that every congressional candidate in every state and district is aware of the Accord; and (2) inspire citizens to demand that any candidate seeking to represent them in Congress commit to the Accord as a vital first step toward urgently needed legislative action.

**** None of this happens without the support of forward-thinking philanthropists. To expand the Accord’s impact during the final months of this election cycle, we are seeking $100,000 for strategic digital outreach, which we expect to generate over 10 million targeted impressions across key platforms. To make a tax-deductible gift please visit our Donate page, where you can direct a contribution (in any amount) to “Transformative Leadership” using the dropdown menu. If you’d like to discuss other ways to support this Initiative or New Statecraft Institute generally please email giving@newstatecraft.org or call (202) 918-2005 to speak with Institute staff. ****

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New Statecraft Institute presents the following pledge for consideration by all candidates for Congress in 2026.

THE TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP ACCORD:
A Framework for Practical Governance Reforms

Citizens’ trust in government has collapsed and restoring it will require fundamental changes. Our republic depends on fair and competitive elections, accountable democratic institutions, and transformative leaders who overcome partisan paralysis. Congress must end generational fiscal irresponsibility, eradicate pervasive conflicts of interest, and fundamentally redesign the structures and processes that determine how government performs.

The candidates signing this Accord do not necessarily support every item in it. But every signatory understands and agrees that electing a critical mass of reform-minded lawmakers is essential to producing a federal government that is capable of addressing the challenges that have long defied solution.

COMPETITIVE ELECTIONS

  • Support a constitutional amendment empowering Congress to restrict campaign contributions and expenditures, but with federal courts retaining authority to invalidate any regulation whose substantial effect or evident purpose is to disadvantage challengers

  • Require states to use non-partisan commissions to create Congressional Districts, instead of incumbent politicians with conflicts of interest

  • Make Election Day a national holiday (This can be accomplished at no additional cost to employers or taxpayers by moving an existing national holiday like Presidents’ Day to November.)

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • Force Congress to face reality by requiring use of the lowest consensus baseline forecast for economic growth (rather than an optimistic one) when enacting an annual budget

  • Require inclusion of all costs — including interest — in making official federal budget projections on all proposed new spending or tax cuts

  • Expand the budget window from 10 to 20 years, to end budget gimmicks that shift true costs to the budget out-years

  • Compel transparency about the Social Security benefits Americans can actually expect to receive based on credible projected revenues

CONGRESSIONAL EFFICACY

  • Prohibit Members of Congress and their spouses from buying or selling individual stocks while in office, apart from an annual re-adjustment period each January

  • Require periodic rotation of seats on the most powerful committees, to increase fairness and avoid the corrupting influence of entrenched power 

  • Support term limits and age caps on newly elected Members

PRESIDENTIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

  • Reform the Insurrection Act — under which the president can deploy the armed forces on American soil — by allowing a simple majority in both houses of Congress to immediately override its use

  • Prohibit a president from pardoning members of his or her own administration or family

  • Support an age cap of 75 years (as of Inauguration Day) on anyone standing for election or re-election as president 

SUPREME COURT LEGITIMACY

  • Establish a binding code of conduct — including disclosures of potential conflicts of interest — on Supreme Court justices in the same manner as members of Congress and Cabinet officials

  • Require the Chief Justice to be chosen by his or her colleagues annually, rather than being unilaterally appointed by a president for a life term

  • Support a 16-year or 18-year term limit for newly appointed Justices, with eventually regularized appointments in the first and third year of a president’s term. (This reduces the incentive for a president to nominate a young unproven candidate who might then serve for decades and into senility.)

COUNT ME IN! By submitting the form below, I affirm the spirit of the proposals outlined here as a starting point to consider urgently needed legislative actions.