As Democrats attempt to rebound from an underwhelming showing in the 2024 election, California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna is not only taking stock of the stinging defeat last fall, but also taking shots at his own political party.
After watching Democrats swap nominees and struggle to deliver a cohesive message to voters in the last campaign cycle, Khanna told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he believes a political reform agenda focused on combating corruption “is what we should run on in 2026” and laments the political costs that came as Democrats campaigned on other priorities in 2024.
“It was a mistake,” Khanna said, adding he “didn’t hear any political reform agenda” from President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris during their respective presidential campaigns. “Trump became the outsider. It was a mistake we didn’t run on the theme of reform. Getting money and lobbyists out of politics — that should be our mantle.”
Now, Khanna is introducing the Drain The Swamp Act, which would permanently prohibit White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists — reinstating a Biden-era mandate that established ethics and lobbying rules for appointees in the administration.
“Anti-corruption has to be core to rebuilding the Democratic brand,” Khanna, serving in his fifth term, said. “Democrats need to be seen as owning the mantle of reform.”
Khanna said he finds it striking that one of President Donald Trump’s first acts of his second term was to sign an executive order to overturn Biden’s order — creating the impetus to craft an agenda that takes aim at Washington’s revolving door between lobbyists and lawmakers.
“It’s part of a broader sense that Democrats have to run on anti-corruption,” Khanna said, complaining that the Democratic Party enabled Trump to “co-opt” the “drain the swamp” theme of anti-corruption. Khanna said it has cost his party not only two presidential elections in 2016 and 2024, but also majority control of Congress.
“We need to be zealous,” Khanna said — explaining his vision for a five-point anti-corruption agenda.
Khanna wants to ban former members of Congress from ever lobbying Congress, and he wants to impose 12-year term limits for members and 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices. Khanna says he believes timed-out justices should return to serve on lower courts after they leave a post on the high court. Khanna also advocates for a “binding code of ethics” for Supreme Court justices amid ethics pressure on the court.
“If Democrats want to rebuild, start with anti-political corruption,” Khanna stressed, adding he has received a positive reception from a range of people such as billionaire Mark Cuban and even Republican voters who are supportive of his pledge to “drain the swamp.”
Khanna also calls for a ban on members of Congress and their families from holding and trading individual stocks during the member’s tenure in office, as well as a ban on members of Congress and candidates running for House or Senate seats from accepting contributions from political action committees.
As for his own future political interest — whether reelection, the California governor’s mansion or even the White House in 2028 — Khanna is keeping his cards close, but his options open.
“Ro believes that anti-corruption and economic patriotism need to be the driving themes of the Democratic Party for 2026 and 2028, regardless of who gets into the fray or leads the party,” Sarah Drory, a Khanna spokeswoman, told ABC when asked about the congressman’s political prospects.
Nevertheless, Khanna’s profile continues to grow as he faces voters and weighs his future options — sometimes even before Republican audiences on Fox News or in GOP-held districts.
After Trump delivered a joint address to Congress last week, Khanna went on “Fox News Sunday” and admitted that it “was not a good look” as Democrats protested not only the president, but also rejected the invited guests in the First Lady’s box.
“We should have stood for the boy with cancer. You stand for the president of the United States, out of respect for the American people,” Khanna said on the program. “I mean, you stand for the widow of the firefighter.”
“The story should have been on President Trump,” Khanna continued. “We should have been talking about the Medicaid cuts. Instead, we’re talking about our own behavior. And that’s a distraction from us getting out our economic message.”
Khanna will also hold three in-person town hall meetings during a “Benefits Over Billionaires” tour on March 23 in GOP-held districts, where his anti-corruption agenda will take stage alongside his progressive bona fides.
“It’s smart to have a clear message,” Khanna told ABC News. “We’re the party that’s going to save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.”
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