 Nine anti-corruption protesters were arrested in D.C. this past week. The protesters rallied around Ronaldo Pearson, who walked more than 700 miles from Atlanta to D.C. to protest political corruption. Multiple protesters participated in a civil disobedience sit-in, demanding that leaders fix corruption by one, protecting the right to vote, two, making elections secure and competitive, and three, ending political corruption. Protesters watched on as Capitol Police arrested protesters one by one. All protesters were released safely. What does it take to serve on an influential House committee? Money. Both the DCCC and the NRCCC have actual fundraising quotas members must reach in order to get leadership roles or serve on powerful committees. In a lower ranking, House Democrats owe between 400K and 500K in dues to the DCCC, while top leadership posts for Democrats range from 700K to 900K. The Republican side isn't any better. Committee chairs were expected to raise between 875K up to 1.2 million for their party in 2018. Our campaign finance system needs serious reform, so our legislators can spend their days legislating, not fundraising. The Federal Election Commission is no longer operational. The FEC is an independent agency that investigates and enforces campaign finance violations, catching corruption in our political system. The 4th Commissioner resigned, leaving just three members instead of six, which isn't enough to perform basic actions such as holding regular public meetings, penalizing candidates for violating campaign finance laws, conducting audits of presidential candidate fundraising, and voting on new rulings. President Trump needs to nominate three commissioners, and the Senate needs to confirm them in order for the FEC to do its job.