For years, Washington has talked a good game on ethics. Politicians of both parties promise to clean up the "swamp," to end conflicts of interest, to hold themselves to the same standards they demand of everyone else. Then they go back to their offices and do exactly what they always did. 

The ethics provisions negotiated into the Clarity Act have the potential to break that cycle. And supporters of good governance—real good governance, not the performative kind—should recognize this bill for what it is: a genuine, voluntary act of self-restraint by a sitting president. 

No president in American history has voluntarily signed self-imposed limits into law like President Trump has shown willingness toward here. Not as a concession forced by a special counsel. Not as a settlement after a scandal broke. As a proactive choice, negotiated in the open, written into statute, and applied to the very office he holds. That is not a small thing. It is, in fact, close to unprecedented.  

Critics will say this proves nothing—that any president can claim........

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