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 Presi-
dency. 
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. CON-
NOLLY, 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 re-
ferred 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 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:09 Jan 11, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HJ26.IH
HJ26
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
•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 ex-
ternal 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 ex-
clusive loyalty of Federal officeholders to the best inter-
ests 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 do-
mestic and foreign business interests: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:36 Jan 11, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HJ26.IH
HJ26
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
•HJ 26 IH 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘No Con-
gressional Consent for President Donald J. Trump To Ac-
cept Foreign Emoluments of Any Kind Whatsoever’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF 
FOREIGN EMOLUMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President, as holder of a 
Federal office, is subject to the strict scrutiny of the 
Emoluments Clause. 
(b) CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT.—As a holder of of-
fice of profit or trust, the President shall not accept any 
present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind what-
ever, from any King, Prince, or foreign state, without the 
consent of Congress. 
(c) EMOLUMENT QUALIFICATION.—Historic meaning 
and precedent provides that what qualifies as an Emolu-
ment is given broad construction, further broadened by 
the inclusion ‘‘of any kind whatever,’’ leaving Congress 
with the power to consent or deny consent to a full spec-
trum of transactions. 
(d) KING, PRINCE, OR FOREIGN STATE.—Emolu-
ments reach not only foreign states, but also their agents 
and instrumentalities, and precedent has determined that 
corporations owned or controlled by a foreign government 
are presumptively foreign states. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:36 Jan 11, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HJ26.IH
HJ26
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
•HJ 26 IH 
(e) NO CONSENT TO ACCEPT FOREIGN EMOLU-
MENTS.—The authority granted in article I, section 9, and 
reaffirmed in subsection (b) hereby denies congressional 
consent to allow President Donald J. Trump to accept any 
present, Emolument, Office, or Title of any kind whatever, 
from any King, Prince, or foreign state. 
(f) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) Nothing in this joint resolution supersedes 
any requirement of related laws that limit the prin-
ciple that Presidents are entitled to presumptions of 
good faith and public interestedness in their official 
conduct. 
(2) Nothing in this joint resolution may be con-
strued to imply that an explicit congressional denial 
of consent is required in order to trigger the prohibi-
tion of the Emoluments Clause; on the contrary, 
only an explicit grant of congressional consent can 
overcome the prohibition; this joint resolution thus 
represents not a necessary step to invocation and en-
forcement of the Clause but only a step taken to un-
derscore the sense of Congress that compliance with 
the Clause is a matter of the greatest urgency and 
importance. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:36 Jan 11, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HJ26.IH
HJ26
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
•HJ 26 IH 
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
President Donald J. Trump shall submit, within 30 
days after the enactment of this joint resolution, to the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Presi-
dent pro tempore of the Senate a report on matters rel-
evant to this joint resolution, including a detailed account 
of actions taken to ensure compliance with the Constitu-
tion’s article I, section 9, also known as the Emoluments 
Clause. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:36 Jan 11, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HJ26.IH
HJ26
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS