Ranking Member Raskin and Senator Blumenthal Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Enforce the Constitution’s Ban on Foreign Emoluments

Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2024)—Today, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced the No Foreign Emoluments Without Congressional Consent Act, which would enforce the Constitution’s explicit language banning foreign emoluments by prohibiting the President, Vice President, Cabinet officials, Members of Congress, and other senior federal officials from accepting payments from foreign governments—including through business transactions—without first obtaining the consent of Congress.  The President and other officials would be prohibited from accepting foreign payments without Congressional approval during the entire time they are in office and for two years after leaving office.

This bicameral legislation would create criminal penalties for violations of its provisions, including imprisonment and fines.  In addition, the bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring civil actions against offending senior federal officials that could result in civil monetary penalties.  Any foreign payment that is received, accepted, or retained in violation of the legislation’s requirements would be seized and forfeited to the United States.

“Earlier this year, Oversight Democrats released a report showing that, as President, Donald Trump pocketed nearly 8 million dollars from 20 foreign governments, including China and Saudi Arabia, without seeking, much less obtaining, the required consent of Congress.  This unprecedented profiteering from foreign states by a U.S. President directly violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.  The report showed that many ‘Kings, princes and foreign States’ making payments to the President were seeking to obtain, and often got, specific policy favors from his White House.  It also showed how easy it was for Trump to place his personal and global financial ambitions above the clear and categorical commands of the Constitution.

“Although we have not needed to develop a full-blown legislative machinery to enforce the Emoluments Clause for more than two centuries, Congress must now enact a law to prevent Presidents from ever again exploiting the presidency for self-enrichment by selling out our government to foreign states.

“Today, I have introduced legislation that will subject the President, Vice President, Members of the Cabinet, Members of Congress, and other senior officials to both civil and criminal penalties for accepting foreign government payments without Congress’s consent,” said Ranking Member Raskin.

“No one should be allowed to treat the presidency or any public office as a personal piggy bank—which is why I sued President Trump when he flagrantly flouted the Constitution and why I’m now introducing this much-needed legislation.  Our measure will hold the President, Members of Congress, and other top officials accountable if they betray the public’s trust and seek to enrich themselves at the American people’s expense.

“For centuries, the President and other high-ranking government officials strictly respected the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses.  Sadly, President Trump’s brazen acceptance of illegal foreign payments and benefits shows the need for clear rules enforcing the Constitution’s preeminent provisions preventing corruption,” said Sen. Blumenthal.

The No Foreign Emoluments Without Congressional Consent Act is also endorsed by non-partisan ethics watchdog organizations.

“Americans deserve an ethical government under the rule of law, and establishing an ironclad anti-corruption structure for enforcing the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause is a critical step towards eliminating the conflicts of interest and corruption that our founders were concerned that they would create," said CREW President Noah Bookbinder.  “We applaud Senator Blumenthal and Congressman Raskin for introducing the No Foreign Emoluments Without Congressional Consent Act, which would prohibit senior federal officials including the President and Vice President from accepting foreign payments, and requires congressional review of any requests to receive, accept and retain foreign payment.  We urge Congress to pass this legislation immediately to ensure that no government official may abuse their positions of power for personal gain.”

“Public Citizen is thrilled to support this important legislation from Senator Blumenthal and Representative Raskin.  It is unacceptable and inappropriate for the President, Members of Congress and other senior officials to accept foreign payments while serving in office without transparency and Congressional consent.  This straightforward bill reaffirms the intent of the constitution and will ensure that foreign money does not corrupt American officials,” said Lisa Gilbert, Executive Vice President of Public Citizen.

The No Foreign Emoluments Without Congressional Consent Act is also cosponsored in the House by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gerald E. Connolly, Ayanna Pressley, Ro Khanna, Cori Bush, Kweisi Mfume, Rashida Tlaib, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Robert Garcia, Dan Goldman, Jasmine Crockett, Greg Casar, and Melanie Stansbury.

Background

Former President Trump’s corrupt disregard for the Constitution makes it critical for Congress to enact a law to prevent Presidents and other public officials from receiving foreign payments without the consent of Congress.

In January, Ranking Member Raskin released a Democratic staff report entitled White House for Sale:  How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump, which established that while he was in office, former President Donald Trump pocketed at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during just two of his four years in office and through just four of the more than 500 of the business entities he owned.  This staggering figure reflects a very limited set of records Oversight Committee Democrats obtained from former President Trump’s former accounting firm before our investigation was blocked by Donald Trump’s attorneys and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer.

By accepting foreign state payments while in office without ever seeking Congress’s approval, former President Trump brazenly violated Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution, which states in part, “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

The urgent need for this legislation was also made clear by the example of another former U.S. official who appears to have cashed in dramatically on his time in federal office.  Committee Democrats have been investigating Jared Kushner, former President Trump’s son-in-law, who served as a Senior Advisor to President Trump and was deeply involved in shaping U.S. policy toward the Middle East even though he had no previous experience in government or in foreign policy.  Shortly after he left office, Kushner secured a business investment reportedly worth $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and he secured an additional $200 million from each of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.  The Trump Administration rendered multiple policy favors to the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, including moving quickly to cover up and whitewash his order to assassinate Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi.

Click here to read the bill text.

Click here to read the one-pager.

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