The Congressional Integrity Project (CIP) is a left-of-center activist group that has advocated against Republican members of Congress and specifically focuses on policy issues including government spending, social welfare programs, and health-related issues such as Covid-19 spending. ¹

The leadership of the CIP includes former senior staffers for the presidential campaigns of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Al Gore as well as the campaigns of Democratic members of Congress including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). ¹

The CIP has received funding from both the Arabella Advisors-managed Sixteen Thirty Fund and the Open Society Action Fund, which is part of the Open Society network of left-of-center billionaire George Soros.^{2 3}

Activities

Between September 2020 and January 2021, Congressional Integrity Project (CIP) issued several press releases and statements alleging activities by Republican lawmakers and their associates and family members it claimed were unethical. ⁴

In January 2021, following the U.S Capitol Riot, the CIP issued a statement calling for staffers with the offices of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to resign from their positions while publishing a list with the names of several staffers from both offices. ⁵

In June 2023, CIP released a memo claiming it was issuing an expansion to their original mission statement by including defense against, “conservatives’ crusade against the rise of ESG considerations.” ⁶ CIP executive director Kyle Irving claimed, “It’s critical that we push back against this harmful policy agenda and call it out for what it really is: a well-organized right-wing attack on businesses buoyed by far-right megadonors.” ⁶

Funding

According to a 2022 article in the Washington Examiner, the CIP had received roughly $1.5 million in donations from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group managed by philanthropic firm Arabella Advisors. ⁷ The Sixteen Thirty is one of several Arabella-managed nonprofits that have been previously criticized of being “dark money” organizations. ⁸ The Examiner also claimed that tax filings show the $1.5 million as accounting for a majority of donations CIP received between 2020 and 2021. According to the CIP’s tax forms, the donations were meant for “civil rights, social action, [and] advocacy.” ⁷

Tax filings covering 2020 through 2023 reveal that the Sixteen Thirty Fund made a total of $2,502,274 in grants to the CIP across those four years.² In 2023, the CIP received an additional $1,000,000 from the Open Society Action Fund, which is part of the Open Society network of left-of-center billionaire George Soros.³

During the 2024 election, the CIP issued several statements highly critical of then-former President Donald Trump, with one claiming “Trump and his MAGA Republican cronies across the country are doubling down on their violent rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and lies about our election processes to lay the groundwork for their second attempt at a coup if they lose.” ⁹

Following President Trump’s reelection in November 2024, the CIP group launched a “Civil Defense Project” to advocate in favor of left-of-center organizations and other “progressive infrastructure.” In addition, the CIP released a statement claiming it had previously defended then-President Joe Biden “from baseless attacks on his character, forcing House Oversight Chairman James Comer to close his impeachment investigation into President Biden without finding a single shred of wrongdoing.” ¹⁰

Since January 2025, the CIP has released statements and promoted advocacy against the second Trump administration such as criticizing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s alleged role in the administration while promoting left-of-center demonstrations to disrupt town halls hosted by Republican members of Congress. ^{11 12}

Not Above the Law Coalition

The Congressional Integrity Project is a member of the Not Above the Law Coalition, which previously supported the indictment of then-former President Donald Trump on federal charges. Members of the coalition include Common Cause, Daily Kos, the Defend Democracy Action Project, Greenpeace USA, Indivisible, J Street, the League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, NextGen America, Our Revolution, People For the American Way, People Power United, Public Citizen, Public Wise, the Secure Elections Network, the Sierra Club, Stand Up America, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, and the Workers Circle. ¹³

The Not Above the Law Coalition was among several left-wing advocacy groups that organized national “Hands Off!” and “#TeslaTakedown” protests in March and April 2025 advocating against the Second Trump administration as well as Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s alleged role with the Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). ^{14 15}

Leadership

Kyle Herrig is the executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project (CIP). He is also the founder and president of left-of-center advocacy group Accountable.US. ¹ Herrig has previously worked as the managing director and board member of Arabella-managed nonprofit New Venture Fund. He also sat on the advisory board of Restore Public Trust, a left-of-center advocacy organization that was formerly a project of New Venture Fund and is a project of Accountable.US as of 2022. ^{16 17 18}

Jeffrey Peck is the president of the CIP as of 2023. Peck previously worked as a staffer to then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), the treasurer and vice chair of the Biden Foundation, and was a volunteer senior advisor to the Biden Presidential Transition in 2020. He was appointed by then-president Biden to serve on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council (USHMC) during the Biden administration. ¹⁹

Members of the CIP’s board include Melanie Sloan and Brad Woodhouse. Sloan was the founding executive director of legal activist group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) while Woodhouse is the executive director of health activist group Protect Our Care. Woodhouse previously held positions with left-of-center groups Americans United for Change, American Bridge 21st Century, and Correct the Record. ¹ Woodhouse previously served as a project director for Sixteen Thirty Fund. ^{20 16} Woodhouse was previously listed as a volunteer board member at the CIP as well as the organization’s president for part of the year according to the organization’s 2023 tax return, and was paid $195,000 for the year. ²¹

1. “About.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://congressionalintegrity.org/about/
2. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Sixteen Thirty Fund. 2020-2023. Schedule I.
3. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Open Society Action Fund. 2023. Schedule I.
4. “Press Releases.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://congressionalintegrity.org/news/press/
5. “Watchdog to Cruz and Hawley Staff: It’s Never too Late to do the Right Thing.” Congressional Integrity Project. January 14, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://congressionalintegrity.org/watchdog-to-cruz-and-hawley-staff-its-never-too-late-to-do-the-right-thing/
6. Oprysko, Caitlin and Daniel Lippman. “Crocs come to K Street.” Politico, June 7, 2023. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2023/06/07/crocs-come-to-k-street-00100881#:~:text=DEM%20OPPO%20GROUP%20TARGETS%20ANTI-ESG%20PUSH%3A%20The%20Democratic,conservatives%E2%80%99%20crusade%20against%20the%20rise%20of%20ESG%20considerations.
7. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Democratic dark money juggernaut behind Biden-allied group targeting House GOP.” December 29, 2022. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-allied-group-targeting-house-gop-has-been-almost-entirely-bankrolled-arabella-advisors
8. Hayden R. Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center (DarkMoneyATM.org). https://darkmoneyatm.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money_small.pdf
9. “SHOT-CHASER: We Can’t Trust MAGA Republicans to Respect a Trump Loss.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://congressionalintegrity.org/shot-chaser-we-cant-trust-maga-republicans-to-respect-a-trump-loss/
10. “Congressional Integrity Project Launches Civic Defense Project to Defend Progressive Infrastructure, Individuals in Response to MAGA’s Promised Attacks on Political Enemies.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://congressionalintegrity.org/congressional-integrity-project-launches-civic-defense-project-to-defend-progressive-infrastructure-individuals-in-response-to-magas-promised-attacks-on-political-enemies/
11. “Donald Trump Springs His Corrupt Gang of Fraudsters, Crooks, and Convicts Out of Jail.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://congressionalintegrity.org/donald-trump-springs-his-corrupt-gang-of-fraudsters-crooks-and-convicts-out-of-jail/
12. “Statement: As Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE Slash Americans’ Jobs, Republicans Run from Their Constituents.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://congressionalintegrity.org/statement-as-donald-trump-elon-musk-and-doge-slash-americans-jobs-republicans-run-from-their-constituents/
13. “Statement: Not Above the Law Coalition Calls Out GOP Hypocrisy on Gutting Office of Congressional Ethics in Front of Congressman-Elect Santos’ Office.” Congressional Integrity Project. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://congressionalintegrity.org/statement-not-above-the-law-coalition-calls-out-gop-hypocrisy-on-gutting-office-of-congressional-ethics-in-front-of-congressman-elect-santos-office/
14. Treisman, Rachel. “‘Hands Off’ Protesters Gather in Washington, D.C., to Oppose Abortion Restrictions.” NPR. April 5, 2025. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/05/nx-s1-5353388/hands-off-protests-washington-dc
15. “Hands Off Protest – Washington, D.C.” Mobilize. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/event/769107/
16. Glynn, Earl F. “Tangled, Dark-Money Web of Congressional Integrity Project.” Watchdog Lab, December 1, 2022. https://watchdoglab.substack.com/p/tangled-dark-money-web-of-congressional
17. Hayden R. Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center (DarkMoneyATM.org). https://darkmoneyatm.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money_small.pdf
18. “Kyle Herrig.” LinkedIn, Accessed June 4, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-herrig/
19. “Jeffrey Peck, ’82, Speaks About Goals for the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.” University of Chicago Law School. April 1, 2024. Accessed April 2, 2025. https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/jeffrey-peck-82-speaks-about-goals-united-states-holocaust-memorial-council
20. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Sixteen Thirty Fund. 2019. Part VII (Compensation of Officers, Directors, etc.).
21.  Congressional Integrity Project, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Part VII Section A. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/851339862/202413199349304211/full