Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-108_8n5a.pdf
Page Number: 25

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

3 

JACKSON, J., dissenting 

I 
Section 666 is a relatively recent solution to an old prob-
lem.  It seeks to ensure that “taxpayer dollars . . . are in fact 
spent  for  the  general  welfare,  and  not  frittered  away  in
graft.”  Id., at 605.  Accordingly, the statute applies to cer-
tain  entities  that  receive  a  threshold  amount  of  federal 
funds.  It covers any “agent of an organization, or of a State,
local, or Indian tribal government, or any agency thereof.” 
§666(a)(1).  The entity must “receiv[e], in any one year pe-
riod, benefits in excess of $10,000 under a Federal program
involving a . . . form of Federal assistance.”  §666(b).

If an entity meets that description, the statute imposes 

federal criminal penalties on any agent who 

“corruptly solicits or demands for the benefit of any per-
son,  or  accepts  or  agrees  to  accept,  anything  of  value 
from  any  person,  intending  to  be  influenced  or  re-
warded  in  connection  with  any  business,  transaction, 
or series of transactions of such organization, govern-
ment, or agency involving any thing of value of $5,000 
or more.”  §666(a)(1)(B). 

In  short,  §666(a)(1)(B)  makes  it  a  federal  crime  for  state, 
local, or tribal officials to corruptly solicit, accept, or agree 
to  accept  certain  payments  in  connection  with  business 
worth  $5,000  or  more.    A  neighboring  provision  similarly 
imposes penalties on the giver—i.e., anyone who “corruptly 
gives, offers, or agrees to give” payments “with intent to in-
fluence or reward” these officials.  §666(a)(2).  For offenders 
of either provision, the penalty is a fine, a maximum of 10
years in prison, or both.  §666(a).

There  is  no  dispute  that  §666  criminalizes  bribes.    See 
ante,  at  1.  This  Court  has  also  been  clear  about  what  a 
bribe requires: “a quid pro quo.”  United States v. Sun-Dia-
mond  Growers  of  Cal.,  526  U. S.  398,  404  (1999).    A  quid 
pro quo means “a specific intent to give or receive something 
of value in exchange for an official act.”  Id., at 404–405.  So,