Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff and Chicago mayor who has floated a 2028 presidential run, laid out a five-point ethics plan he says would force elected officials to work for the public rather than themselves.
Speaking to Fox News Digital after appearing at the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Emanuel argued Americans need “five simple things” applied across all three branches of government.
“Across all three branches of government, ban all stock trading. Two, ban all participation in the prediction market. Three, when you hit the age of 75, mandatory retirement. Four, if your net worth is north of a million dollars… mandatory blind trust. Five, tighten up legally, not constitutionally, the foreign gifts and foreign investments and participation,” Emanuel said.
“For all three branches of government,” he added. “Every one of those applies.”
A Blunt Take on Education
Emanuel also weighed in sharply on education policy, faulting both parties and acknowledging what he called Democratic missteps.
“Republicans have walked away from public education. I’m saying that at 10,000 feet, there are others who support it. And Democrats have walked away from accountability and standards that our kids are falling through,” he said.
He argued Republicans push school vouchers without accountability attached, while Democrats have their own record to answer for.
“We have made mistakes as a party. In 2012, we walked away from core curriculum, and we walked away from standards and accountability. Our kids are paying a price for that. That was wrong,” Emanuel said.
He said teachers were not wrong to worry about “teaching to the tests,” but the solution should have been adjusting the tests, not abandoning them.
“And to all the Republicans who say, ‘You know, it’s about a different funding mechanism,’ truth is, you just oppose teachers’ unions, and therefore you’re using that as a disguise. I’m interested in only one thing, results,” he said.
Pointing to Mississippi and Louisiana
Emanuel said whoever runs for the Democratic nomination should study education gains made in Republican-led states such as Mississippi and Louisiana in recent years.
“If you have a successful model, I don’t care the political quote unquote red or blue state. I want to know what it is, and can we scale it. That’s all I stand for. So, the two parties have made mistakes, learn from them,” he said.
“We are not in a position when 50% of our kids cannot read at grade level, our math scores are worse. Interestingly, our science isn’t. And then adjust accordingly, because we don’t have a child to waste in this competition for the future,” Emanuel continued.
Emanuel faces a steep climb if he pursues the Democratic nomination. The RealClearPolitics average of polls currently does not place him among the top 10 contenders, while former Vice President Kamala Harris holds a substantial lead with roughly 25% average support among Democratic voters.
