Congressman Cohen Introduces Amendments to Prohibit Spending at Trump Businesses

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today introduced amendments to the annual Department of Defense spending bill for Fiscal Year 2019 to prohibit the federal government from spending money at businesses owned by President Trump. The Congressman contends such spending violates Constitutional anti-corruption provisions that prohibit any President from receiving funds from foreign governments with without first obtaining the permission of Congress, as well as receiving funding from the federal government beyond his salary.

He made the following statement:

"Members of Congress swear to protect and defend the Constitution and the Constitution explicitly prohibits the kind of profiteering this President has engaged in since deciding not to place his many business interests in a blind trust, or divest, as his predecessors have done. Congress has an obligation to prevent the continuation of this behavior. I intend to attempt to amend every annual spending bill with this prohibition."

Congressman Cohen introduced similar amendments earlier this month to a spending bill funding the Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs programs and Energy and Water programs. The Majority blocked the amendments from reaching the House floor for a vote.

The Majority blocked similar Cohen amendments last year.

Congressman Cohen has authored Articles of Impeachment (H. Res. 621) against Trump which cite the President's violations of the Constitutional prohibition on receiving payments – known as emoluments – among its provisions.