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AUSTIN, Texas — Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel insists his five-point plan would clean up ethics in government, and whoever emerges as the 2028 Democratic nominee could learn from Republican-led states if they want to help fix America’s education system.
During an interview with Fox News Digital following his appearance at the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival, the high-powered Democrat, who has floated a potential 2028 White House run, insisted Americans need “five simple things” to ensure elected officials work for the people instead of themselves.
“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 told Fox News Digital.
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Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel speaks at the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas. (FOX News Media)
“For all three branches of government,” he said. “Every one of those applies.”
The former mayor of Chicago was also fired up about education, blasting both parties and admitting mistakes made by Democrats.
“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,” Emanuel said.
He said Republicans advocate for vouchers, but “there’s no accountability associated with them,” while Democrats have their own problems on education.
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Former U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel served as White House Chief of Staff under former President Barack Obama. (Hestoft/Corbis via Getty Images)
“We have made mistakes as a party. In 2012, we walked away from core curriculum, and we walked away from standards and accountability,” Emanuel said.
“Our kids are paying a price for that,” he continued. “That was wrong.”
Emanuel said it’s important to understand that teachers “were not wrong” to claim we were “teaching to the tests.”
“But the answer wasn’t abandoning the test, it was making an adjustment,” he said.
“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,” Emanuel said. “I’m interested in only one thing, results.”
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Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. (Getty Images)
Emanuel said that if someone was considering a run for the Democratic nomination, it’d be wise to look at the education record of states like Mississippi and Louisiana, which have posted gains 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,” Emanuel continued. “Interestingly, our science isn’t. And then adjust accordingly, because we don’t have a child to waste in this competition for the future.”
The former ambassador has a long road ahead of him if he seeks the Democratic nomination as the RealClearPolitics average of polls currently does not have him among the top 10 contenders. Former Vice President Kamala Harris maintains a substantial lead with roughly 25% average support among Democratic voters.
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