II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3181 

To prohibit certain foreign and domestic emoluments, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit certain foreign and domestic emoluments, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign and Domestic 

5 Emoluments Enforcement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Founders of the United States believed 

9 that political corruption and the interference of forVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Nov 05, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3181.IS S3181

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1 eign governments were among the gravest threats 

2 the Nation faced. As a result, they viewed anti-cor3 ruption measures as essential to preserving an en4 during democracy. 

5 (2) The Founders wanted to ensure that the 

6 Nation’s leaders would be dependent on the people 

7 alone, not on those offering private financial re8 wards—and would be motivated solely by the na9 tional interest, not their own personal interests. 

10 (3) The Founders were especially worried that 

11 foreign powers would interfere with the internal af12 fairs of the United States, undermining the Nation’s 

13 republican institutions and making its leaders sub14 servient to foreign interests. In The Federalist No. 

15 22, Alexander Hamilton wrote that one of the 

16 vulnerabilities of republics ‘‘is that they afford too 

17 easy an inlet to foreign corruption’’. He was aware 

18 that eighteenth-century monarchs used lavish pre19 sents to ingratiate themselves with ambassadors and 

20 ministers from other nations and wanted to avoid 

21 the potential for such corruption in the new Govern22 ment of the United States. 

23 (4) Of particular concern to the Founders was 

24 the risk that benefits and rewards given by foreign 

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1 alty to the Nation’s best interests. As Hamilton 

2 noted during the Constitutional Convention, the per3 sonal interest of a hereditary monarch was ‘‘so inter4 woven with that of the Nation . . . that he was 

5 placed above the danger of being corrupted from 

6 abroad.’’. By contrast, as James Madison observed, 

7 an elected President would lack ‘‘that permanent 

8 stake in the public interest which would place him 

9 out of the reach of foreign corruption.’’. 

10 (5) The Founders were also concerned that do11 mestic government officials might corrupt the Presi12 dent’s independence and gain the loyalty of the 

13 President by giving the President financial benefits 

14 and advantages. Hamilton observed in The Fed15 eralist No. 73 that ‘‘a power over a man’s support 

16 is a power over his will,’’ and that if legislatures 

17 could alter the President’s financial circumstances, 

18 they could ‘‘tempt him by largesses’’ and thereby 

19 cause the President ‘‘to surrender at discretion his 

20 judgment to their inclinations.’’. 

21 (6) To increase the likelihood that the Nation’s 

22 leaders would be dependent upon ‘‘We the People’’ 

23 alone, the Founders included in the Constitution a 

24 number of safeguards against corruption, including 

25 article I, section 9, clause 8 (in this section referred 


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1 to as the ‘‘Foreign Emoluments Clause’’) and article 

2 II, section 1, clause 7 (in this section referred to as 

3 the ‘‘Domestic Emoluments Clause’’). 

4 (7) In the Foreign Emoluments Clause, the 

5 Founders mandated congressional approval of pre6 sents, emoluments, offices, and titles offered by for7 eign states to Federal officeholders. They recognized 

8 that the dangers of foreign-government influence 

9 and divided loyalty would be reduced if officeholders 

10 were required to obtain the affirmative consent of 

11 Congress before accepting any foreign benefit. As 

12 Representative James Bayard explained in the 

13 1790s, the Foreign Emoluments Clause requires of14 ficeholders ‘‘to make known to the world whatever 

15 presents they might receive from foreign Courts and 

16 to place themselves in such a situation as to make 

17 it impossible for them to be unduly influenced by 

18 any such presents.’’. 

19 (8) In the Domestic Emoluments Clause, the 

20 Founders provided that Presidents must receive a 

21 fixed compensation, which may not be increased or 

22 decreased during their time in office, and that Presi23 dents are prohibited from accepting anything beyond 

24 that compensation from Federal, State, or local gov25 ernments. These requirements were meant to preVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Nov 05, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3181.IS S3181

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1 vent Federal, State, and local officials from exerting 

2 undue influence over Presidents by manipulating the 

3 financial rewards of their office. 

4 (9) At the time of the Founding, the word 

5 ‘‘emolument’’ was a broad and commonly used term 

6 that meant profit, advantage, gain, or benefit, in7 cluding payments and other financial rewards de8 rived from private commerce. The use of this broad 

9 term in the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the 

10 Domestic Emoluments Clause was consistent with 

11 the Framers’ goal of preventing the corruption of 

12 leaders of the United States through private re13 wards. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) BUSINESS ENTITY.—The term ‘‘business 

17 entity’’— 

18 (A) means a for-profit corporation, associa19 tion, partnership, limited liability company, lim20 ited liability partnership, other legal entity, or 

21 sole proprietorship; and 

22 (B) does not include an entity— 

23 (i) in which 100 or more individuals 

24 hold a share or ownership interest; 


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1 (ii) in which the official covered by 

2 this section owns or has a beneficial inter3 est in no more than 5 percent of the own4 ership interests; and 

5 (iii) that— 

6 (I) issues securities registered 

7 with the Securities and Exchange 

8 Commission pursuant to section 12 of 

9 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

10 (15 U.S.C. 78l); 

11 (II) is an investment company 

12 registered pursuant to section 8 of the 

13 Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 

14 U.S.C. 80a–8) that does not have a 

15 stated policy of concentrating the in16 vestments of the investment company 

17 in any industry, business, single coun18 try other than the United States, or 

19 bonds of a single State within the 

20 United States; or 

21 (III) is a unit investment trust, 

22 as defined in section 4 of the Invest23 ment Company Act of 1940 (15 

24 U.S.C. 80a–4) that— 


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1 (aa) is a regulated invest2 ment company, as defined in sec3 tion 851 of the Internal Revenue 

4 Code of 1986; and 

5 (bb) does not have a stated 

6 policy of concentrating the invest7 ments of the investment company 

8 in any industry, business, single 

9 country other than the United 

10 States, or bonds of a single State 

11 within the United States. 

12 (2) EMOLUMENT.—The term ‘‘emolument’’ 

13 means any profit, gain, advantage, or payment (in14 cluding a payment arising from a commercial trans15 action, without regard to whether the payment is at 

16 fair market value) that is received directly or indi17 rectly from— 

18 (A) any government of a foreign country; 

19 (B) the Federal Government; 

20 (C) any State; or 

21 (D) any instrumentality of a government 

22 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

23 (3) GOVERNMENT OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY.— 

24 The term ‘‘government of a foreign country’’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 1 of the Foreign 


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1 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

2 U.S.C. 611). 

3 (4) PERSON HOLDING ANY OFFICE OF PROFIT

4 OR TRUST UNDER THE UNITED STATES.—The term 

5 ‘‘person holding any office of profit or trust under 

6 the United States’’— 

7 (A) means any individual holding a posi8 tion listed in paragraph (A) through (F) of sec9 tion 7342(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, 

10 including any individual appointed pursuant to 

11 section 105(a), 106(a), or 107 of title 3, United 

12 States Code; and 

13 (B) includes the President and the Vice 

14 President. 

15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE OF FOREIGN AND 

16 DOMESTIC EMOLUMENTS. 

17 (a) FOREIGN.—Except as provided in section 7342 

18 of title 5, United States Code, it shall be unlawful for any 

19 person holding any office of profit or trust under the 

20 United States to accept from a government of a foreign 

21 country, without first obtaining the consent of Congress, 

22 any present, emolument, office, or title. 

23 (b) DOMESTIC.—It shall be unlawful for the Presi24 dent to accept from the United States, or a State, any 


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1 emolument other than the compensation for his or her 

2 services as President provided for by Federal law. 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The prohibitions under this sec4 tion apply if the present, emolument, office, or title is— 

5 (1) provided directly or indirectly— 

6 (A) by the government of a foreign country 

7 or an instrumentality thereof; or 

8 (B) in the case of the President, provided 

9 directly or indirectly by the United States, a 

10 State, or an instrumentality of the United 

11 States or a State; and 

12 (2) provided to— 

13 (A) the person holding any office of profit 

14 or trust under the United States; or 

15 (B) any business entity or trust in which 

16 the person holding any office of profit or trust 

17 under the United States has a beneficial or 

18 ownership interest. 

19 (d) CONSENT.—Congress consents to— 

20 (1) the acceptance, by any person who holds an 

21 office of profit or trust under the United States, of 

22 any emolument that has a monetary value below the 

23 minimum value set under section 7342(a)(5)(A) of 

24 title 5, United States Code; 


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1 (2) the acceptance, by any person who holds an 

2 office of profit or trust under the United States, 

3 other than the President or the Vice President, of 

4 any emolument that solely constitutes a benefit or 

5 compensation— 

6 (A) accepted by the spouse or minor child 

7 of a person other than the President or Vice 

8 President as an employee, consultant, or con9 tractor; and 

10 (B) that has not been given or enhanced— 

11 (i) because of the relationship of the 

12 spouse or minor child to the office holder; 

13 (ii) in return for the office holder 

14 being influenced in the performance of an 

15 official act; or 

16 (iii) for the purpose of avoiding the 

17 requirements of this section; 

18 (3) the acceptance of any emolument by any 

19 person in the Federal executive branch, other than 

20 the President and Vice President, who holds an of21 fice of profit or trust under the United States and 

22 is not appointee of the President or the Vice Presi23 dent, if the emolument— 

24 (A) is attributable to such individual solely 

25 as a result of the individual or the individual’s 


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1 spouse or minor child having a beneficial or 

2 ownership interest in a business entity that ac3 cepted the emolument; and 

4 (B) has been exempted as part of a class 

5 of emoluments, by regulation issued by the Di6 rector of the Office of Government Ethics and 

7 published in the Federal Register, from the re8 quirements of subsection (a) as being too re9 mote or too inconsequential to affect the integ10 rity of the services of the class or classes of 

11 Federal Government officers or employees to 

12 which such regulation applies; and 

13 (4) the acceptance of any emolument by a 

14 Member of Congress or by an officer or employee of 

15 the Congress, if the emolument— 

16 (A) is attributable to such individual solely 

17 as a result of the individual or the individual’s 

18 spouse or minor child having a beneficial or 

19 ownership interest in a business entity that ac20 cepted the emolument; and 

21 (B) has been exempted as part of a class 

22 of emoluments, by the supervising ethics office, 

23 as defined in section 109 of the Ethics in Gov24 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), from the 

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1 mote or too inconsequential to affect the integ2 rity of the services to the Government of indi3 vidual’s to which such exemption applies. 

4 (e) ACCEPTANCE.—An emolument is accepted by a 

5 person who holds an office of profit or trust under the 

6 United States if— 

7 (1) the emolument is received directly by the of8 ficer holder, the spouse of the office holder (unless 

9 such individual and his or her spouse are separated) 

10 or a dependent, as defined in section 152 of the In11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, of the office holder; or 

12 (2) the emolument is received by— 

13 (A) any other person on the basis of des14 ignation, recommendation, or other specification 

15 by an individual described in subparagraph (1); 

16 or 

17 (B) a business entity or trust in which an 

18 individual described in (1) has a beneficial or 

19 ownership interest; and 

20 (3) the emolument is retained. 

21 SEC. 5. CIVIL ACTIONS BY CONGRESS CONCERNING FOR22 EIGN EMOLUMENTS. 

23 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—The House of Representa24 tives or the Senate may bring a civil action against any 

25 person for a violation of section 4(a). 


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1 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—In any civil action described 

2 in subsection (a), the following rules shall apply: 

3 (1) The action shall be filed in the United 

4 States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

5 (2) The action shall be heard by a 3-judge 

6 court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, 

7 United States Code. It shall be the duty of such 

8 court to advance on the docket and to expedite to 

9 the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 

10 such action. Such action shall be reviewable only by 

11 appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the United 

12 States. Such appeal shall be taken by the filing of 

13 a notice of appeal within 10 days, and the filing of 

14 a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of the 

15 entry of the final decision. 

16 (3) It shall be the duty of the Supreme Court 

17 of the United States to advance on the docket and 

18 to expedite to the greatest possible extent the dis19 position of any such action and appeal. 

20 (c) REMEDY.—If the court determines that a viola21 tion of section 4(a) has occurred, the court— 

22 (1) shall issue an order enjoining the course of 

23 conduct found to constitute the violation; and 

24 (2) may order, as are appropriate— 


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1 (A) the disgorgement of the value of any 

2 foreign present or emolument; 

3 (B) the surrender of the physical present 

4 or emolument to the Department of State, 

5 which shall, if practicable, dispose of the 

6 present or emolument and deposit the proceeds 

7 into the general fund of the Treasury; 

8 (C) the renunciation of any office or title 

9 accepted in violation of section 4(a); 

10 (D) a prohibition on the use or holding of 

11 such an office or title; and 

12 (E) such other relief as the court deter13 mines appropriate. 

14 (d) USE OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS PROHIBITED.—No 

15 appropriated funds, funds provided from any accounts in 

16 the Treasury, funds derived from the collection of fees, 

17 or any other Government funds shall be used to pay any 

18 disgorgement imposed by the court pursuant to this sec19 tion. 

20 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURES CONCERNING FOREIGN AND DOMES21 TIC EMOLUMENTS. 

22 (a) DISCLOSURES.—Section 102(a) of the Ethics in 

23 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

24 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(9) Any present, emolument, office, or title re2 ceived from a government of a foreign country, in3 cluding the source, date, type, and amount or value 

4 of each present or emolument accepted on or before 

5 the date of filing during the preceding calendar year. 

6 ‘‘(10) Each financial interest or arrangement 

7 that is reasonably expected to result in the receipt 

8 of any present or emolument from a government of 

9 a foreign country during the current calendar year. 

10 ‘‘(11) With respect to a report filed by the 

11 President— 

12 ‘‘(A) any emolument received from the 

13 United States, or any of them, other than the 

14 compensation for his or her services as Presi15 dent provided for by Federal law; and 

16 ‘‘(B) any financial interest or arrangement 

17 that is reasonably expected to result in the re18 ceipt of any emolument from the United States, 

19 or any of them.’’. 

20 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 

21 amendments made by this section shall be construed to 

22 affect the prohibition against the acceptance of presents 

23 and emoluments under section 4. 


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1 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR OF 

2 THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

3 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Section 402(a) of the 

4 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) The Director’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘(a)(1) The Director’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) The Director shall provide overall direction of 

10 executive branch policies related to compliance with the 

11 Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and 

12 the amendments made by that Act, including having the 

13 authority to— 

14 ‘‘(A) issue administrative fines to individuals 

15 for violations; 

16 ‘‘(B) order individuals to take corrective action, 

17 including disgorgement, divestiture, and recusal, as 

18 the Director deems necessary; and 

19 ‘‘(C) bring civil actions to enforce such fines 

20 and orders.’’. 

21 (b) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—Section 402(b) of the 

22 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

25 end; 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(16) developing and promulgating rules and 

5 regulations to ensure compliance with the Foreign 

6 and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and the 

7 amendments made by that Act, including estab8 lishing— 

9 ‘‘(A) requirements for reporting and disclo10 sure; 

11 ‘‘(B) a schedule of administrative fines 

12 that may be imposed by the Director for viola13 tions; and 

14 ‘‘(C) a process for referring matters to the 

15 Office of Special Counsel for investigation in 

16 accordance with section 1216(d) of title 5, 

17 United States Code.’’. 

18 SEC. 8. JURISDICTION OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUN19 SEL. 

20 Section 1216 of title 5, United States Code, is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (5) by striking the period 

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(6) any violation of section 4 of the Foreign 

5 and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and 

6 paragraphs (9), (10), and (11) of section 102(a) of 

7 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

8 App.).’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(d)(1) If the Director of the Office of Government 

11 Ethics refers a matter for investigation pursuant to sec12 tion 402 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

13 U.S.C. App.), or if the Special Counsel receives a credible 

14 complaint of a violation referred to in subsection (a)(6), 

15 the Special Counsel shall complete an investigation not 

16 later than 120 days thereafter. 

17 ‘‘(2) If the Special Counsel investigates any violation 

18 pursuant to subsection (a)(6), the Special Counsel shall 

19 report not later than 7 days after the completion of the 

20 investigation to the Director of the Office of Government 

21 Ethics and to Congress on the results of the investiga22 tion.’’. 

23 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

24 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

25 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 


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1 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu2 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

3 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

4 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

5 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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