IA 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 26 

Denying congressional consent for President Donald J. Trump to accept 

any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from 

any King, Prince, or foreign state throughout the tenure of his Presidency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2017 

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SOTO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. PETERS, Mr. RYAN

of Ohio, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. LARSON of 

Connecticut, Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. TONKO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PINGREE, and 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Denying congressional consent for President Donald J. 

Trump to accept any present, Emolument, Office, or 

Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, 

or foreign state throughout the tenure of his Presidency. 

Whereas article I, section 9 of the Constitution provides as 

follows: ‘‘No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the 

United States: And 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 


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•HJ 26 IH 

Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or 

foreign State.’’; 

Whereas our Founding Fathers identified the importance of 

and included a broad anticorruption measure known as 

the Emolument Clause to preserve independence from external influence of any holders of public office of profit 

or trust; 

Whereas the Framers inclusion of the Emoluments Clause 

covers more than just overt quid pro quo bribery and 

anything of any value whatever, but also encompassed 

the way judgment could be clouded by private concerns 

and improper dependencies, incidents where politicians 

and public institutions serve private interests at the 

public’s expense; 

Whereas the Framers strict Constitutional rule protected the 

most vital safeguard of freedom: the preservation of exclusive loyalty of Federal officeholders to the best interests of the United States of America, the provision 

guards against after-the-fact corruption; 

Whereas it has been widely accepted for almost two centuries 

that the Emoluments Clause applies to the President of 

the United States; and 

Whereas President Donald J. Trump will be in violation of 

the Emolument Clause from the moment he executes the 

Oath of Office unless he is divested of his numerous domestic and foreign business interests: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘No Con3 gressional Consent for President Donald J. Trump To Ac4 cept Foreign Emoluments of Any Kind Whatsoever’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF 

6 FOREIGN EMOLUMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, as holder of a 

8 Federal office, is subject to the strict scrutiny of the 

9 Emoluments Clause. 

10 (b) CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT.—As a holder of of11 fice of profit or trust, the President shall not accept any 

12 present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind what13 ever, from any King, Prince, or foreign state, without the 

14 consent of Congress. 

15 (c) EMOLUMENT QUALIFICATION.—Historic meaning 

16 and precedent provides that what qualifies as an Emolu17 ment is given broad construction, further broadened by 

18 the inclusion ‘‘of any kind whatever,’’ leaving Congress 

19 with the power to consent or deny consent to a full spec20 trum of transactions. 

21 (d) KING, PRINCE, OR FOREIGN STATE.—Emolu22 ments reach not only foreign states, but also their agents 

23 and instrumentalities, and precedent has determined that 

24 corporations owned or controlled by a foreign government 

25 are presumptively foreign states. 


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1 (e) NO CONSENT TO ACCEPT FOREIGN EMOLU2 MENTS.—The authority granted in article I, section 9, and 

3 reaffirmed in subsection (b) hereby denies congressional 

4 consent to allow President Donald J. Trump to accept any 

5 present, Emolument, Office, or Title of any kind whatever, 

6 from any King, Prince, or foreign state. 

7 (f) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 (1) Nothing in this joint resolution supersedes 

9 any requirement of related laws that limit the prin10 ciple that Presidents are entitled to presumptions of 

11 good faith and public interestedness in their official 

12 conduct. 

13 (2) Nothing in this joint resolution may be con14 strued to imply that an explicit congressional denial 

15 of consent is required in order to trigger the prohibi16 tion of the Emoluments Clause; on the contrary, 

17 only an explicit grant of congressional consent can 

18 overcome the prohibition; this joint resolution thus 

19 represents not a necessary step to invocation and en20 forcement of the Clause but only a step taken to un21 derscore the sense of Congress that compliance with 

22 the Clause is a matter of the greatest urgency and 

23 importance. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 President Donald J. Trump shall submit, within 30 

3 days after the enactment of this joint resolution, to the 

4 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Presi5 dent pro tempore of the Senate a report on matters rel6 evant to this joint resolution, including a detailed account 

7 of actions taken to ensure compliance with the Constitu8 tion’s article I, section 9, also known as the Emoluments 

9 Clause. 

Æ 


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