Two leading members of the House Foreign Relations Committee are voicing concerns that government resources are being directed into President Trump’s private businesses in what they say could violate of the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause.
In a letter to Under Secretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao Tuesday, panel chairman Eliot Engel, New York Democrat, and Rep. Joaquin Castro, Texas Democrat, urged the department to share information with the committee about taxpayer dollars that the State Department has spent at Trump properties.
“Based on the information we received, we have questions regarding whether and how the State Department’s resources are being appropriately spent and whether Department officials are ensuring that such payments comply with Department regulations and constitutional prohibitions against the President personally profiting from his office,” the members wrote.
Mr. Trump has been battling accusations that he has repeatedly violated the foreign emoluments clause that prohibits any person holding a U.S. office to profit off of a foreign entity while serving.
Democratic lawmakers filed suit in 2017, arguing Mr. Trump had a financial interest in his business holdings that benefit from foreign governments. They said the president is profiting from foreign states, and claimed Congress must vote to accept any emoluments, or payments, the president might receive from a foreign entity.
The president has also been under scrutiny for his use of Trump properties in Florida, Washington, and New Jersey to host foreign leaders — which could violate the domestic emoluments clause that states the president “shall not receive within [his presidency] any other Emolument from the United States.”
The members are demanding the department brief members of the committee on information related to taxpayer dollars being spent at Trump properties and a “status update” on the department’s efforts to share related documents with the panel.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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