[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4454. Ms. ROSEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
her to the bill S. 1383, to establish the Veterans Advisory Committee 
on Equal Access, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on 
the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONDEMNING FINANCIAL COMPENSATION 
                   FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO PRESIDENT 
                   DONALD TRUMP TIED TO PREVIOUS FEDERAL 
                   INVESTIGATIONS INTO HIS UNLAWFUL ACTIONS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The President of the United States holds a 
     constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws of the 
     United States and an obligation to respect the independence 
     of the Department of Justice's prosecutorial role.
       (2) The Department of Justice is the preeminent law 
     enforcement agency of the United States and must remain free 
     from personal influence, political coercion, or self-dealing 
     by any elected official, including the President.
       (3) Any demand by a President for personal financial 
     compensation from the Department of Justice, an agency under 
     the executive branch of the Federal Government that he or she 
     oversees, represents an extraordinary abuse of the public 
     trust and a breach of fundamental ethical norms.
       (4) President Trump, as a private citizen, filed 
     administrative complaints seeking payments from the Federal 
     Government for alleged damages related to a Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation and Special Counsel investigation into his 
     conduct during the 2016 election and his handling of 
     classified documents.
       (5) These complaints may ultimately be reviewed by 
     employees of the Department of Justice who have worked 
     closely with President Trump in his capacity as a private 
     citizen and political candidate.
       (6) In January 2025, the Department of Justice removed 
     Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer, the 
     senior career ethics official in the Department, from his 
     position.
       (7) In March 2025, the Department of Justice fired Jeffrey 
     Ragsdale, the Director and Chief Counsel of the Office of 
     Professional Responsibility, who was responsible for 
     overseeing the office within the Department of Justice that 
     investigates attorney misconduct.
       (8) In July 2025, the Department of Justice fired Joseph 
     Tirrell, the Director of the Departmental Ethics Office, who 
     was responsible for advising the Attorney General and Deputy 
     Attorney General on ethics and overseeing the ethics program 
     of the Department of Justice.
       (9) On October 21, 2025, President Trump alleged that he 
     had ``a lawsuit that was doing very well'' and stated that 
     the Department of Justice would ``owe [him] a lot of money''.
       (10) The public or private attempts by the President to 
     extract $230,000,000 in personal payments from the Department 
     of Justice raise serious questions about violations of 
     article II, section 1, clause 7 of the Constitution of the 
     United States (commonly known as the ``Domestic Emoluments 
     Clause''), misuse of Government funds, and potential 
     violations of Federal ethics and anti-corruption laws.
       (11) Such actions erode public confidence in the impartial 
     administration of justice.
       (12) Taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for any financial 
     award to the President.
       (13) The people of the United States are struggling with an 
     unprecedented housing affordability crisis, rising health 
     care costs due to cuts by the Trump Administration and 
     Republicans in Congress and their failure to address expiring 
     tax credits that directly lower the cost of private health 
     insurance, and other rising costs due to inflation and the 
     tariffs imposed by President Trump.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     Congress--
       (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms the calls by 
     President Donald Trump for the Department of Justice to pay 
     him $230,000,000;
       (2) opposes the provision of financial compensation through 
     lawsuits, paid from taxpayer money, to President Trump;
       (3) urges any officials of the Department of Justice with 
     personal or professional ties to President Trump to recuse 
     themselves from any review or settlement of these 
     administrative complaints;
       (4) affirms the foundational principle that no public 
     office may be used for personal enrichment;
       (5) reaffirms its commitment to the independence of the 
     Department of Justice's prosecutorial role and the rule of 
     law; and
       (6) calls upon all public officials, including the 
     President of the United States, to uphold the highest ethical 
     standards and to place the public interest above personal 
     gain.
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