H.Res. 1185

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1185 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1185

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
Department of Justice must comply with the Domestic Emoluments Clause 
of the Constitution by refusing to administratively settle the billions 
of dollars in legal claims filed against the United States by President 
Donald Trump.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 16, 2026

Mr. Raskin (for himself, Ms. Balint, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Castro of Texas, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Correa, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Dean of 
Pennsylvania, Ms. Dexter, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. 
Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. 
Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. McBath, Ms. McCollum, Mr. 
Mfume, Mr. Min, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Norton, Ms. Pingree, Ms. 
Ross, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Tlaib, and Mrs. Watson Coleman) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary

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RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
Department of Justice must comply with the Domestic Emoluments Clause 
of the Constitution by refusing to administratively settle the billions 
of dollars in legal claims filed against the United States by President 
Donald Trump.

Whereas article II, section 1, clause 7 of the Constitution states that, ``The 
President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a 
Compensation, which shall neither be [increased] nor diminished during 
the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, 
or any of them'';
Whereas section 102 of title 3, United States Code, states that, ``The President 
shall receive in full for his services during the term for which he 
shall have been elected compensation in the aggregate amount of $400,000 
a year, to be paid monthly, and in addition an expense allowance of 
$50,000 to assist in defraying expenses relating to or resulting from 
the discharge of his official duties'';
Whereas, on January 29, 2026, President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit in the 
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida 
against the Internal Revenue Service demanding at least $10,000,000,000 
in taxpayer money, more than 90 percent of the Internal Revenue 
Service's annual budget, for alleged injuries resulting from the 
disclosure of his income tax returns by an Internal Revenue Service 
contractor, who pled guilty to violating Federal law and was sentenced 
in 2024 to 5 years in prison;
Whereas the leaked tax information appears to have been used in a 2020 New York 
Times report that found that President Trump had only paid $750 in 
income taxes in 2017 and in a 2021 ProPublica report that found that 
other billionaires, like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffett, also 
pay little to no income taxes despite their vast wealth;
Whereas Donald Trump remains the only major candidate for President since Jimmy 
Carter to have refused to voluntarily disclose his tax returns and 
repeatedly promised on the campaign trail to release his taxes yet still 
feels aggrieved over a private contractor's breach of his tax 
information;
Whereas President Donald Trump, like any other private individual, has a legal 
right to pursue disputes in State court or Federal court, subject to 
Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which prohibits the 
filing of frivolous claims;
Whereas President Donald Trump appears to be the first President in the history 
of the United States to bring a lawsuit for money damages against the 
Government and the American taxpayers while in office;
Whereas cabinet officials, including the Attorney General, report directly to 
the President and serve at his pleasure;
Whereas President Donald Trump and his administration have long advanced a 
``unitary executive'' theory of the United States Government, asserting 
that all officials and employees in the executive branch report 
completely and directly to the President in a vertical hierarchy of 
decisionmaking;
Whereas President Donald Trump, when asked by a reporter about the conflict of 
interest that his Internal Revenue Service lawsuit might present if and 
when his own subordinates at Internal Revenue Service settle his 
personal multi-billion dollar lawsuit against the Government, 
acknowledged the anomalous character of the situation in which he must 
``work out a settlement with myself'';
Whereas James Madison articulated in Federalist No. 10 the cardinal principle of 
American constitutional and legal jurisprudence that ``No man is allowed 
to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly 
bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity'';
Whereas President Donald Trump will be acting as ``a judge in his own cause'' if 
and when he directs or ``allows'' his Attorney General and other cabinet 
officials to settle his multi-billion dollar Internal Revenue Service 
lawsuit for money damages;
Whereas, in 2023 and 2024, President Donald Trump also filed 2 administrative 
claims under the Federal Torts Claims Act with the Department of 
Justice, demanding the Department of Justice pay him $230,000,000 for 
executing a lawful search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago clubhouse where he 
stashed highly classified records in ballrooms and bathrooms and for 
investigating Russia's established ``sweeping and systemic'' efforts to 
interfere in the 2016 Presidential election;
Whereas even President Donald Trump has acknowledged the plain impropriety of 
the President filing claims against the Department of Justice when his 
own subordinate political appointees in the executive branch will be 
responsible for approving those claims, stating to reporters that the 
Government owes him ``a lot of money'' for his alleged injuries and that 
``it's interesting, `cause I'm the one that makes the decision, 
right?'';
Whereas the potential administrative settlement by Federal agencies or 
departments of Trump's various pending legal and monetary claims against 
the United States would, by definition, present a startling and 
unprecedented threat of the kind of corrupt self-dealing the Framers 
wanted to prevent and would effect an unconstitutional and 
unconscionable plunder of the taxpayers under the Domestic Emoluments 
Clause; and
Whereas, as a matter of constitutional law under the Domestic Emoluments Clause, 
common sense, and professional ethics, Department of Justice officials 
must reject any invitation, opportunity or order by President Donald 
Trump to settle his extravagant personal claims and must refuse any 
public or private administrative order or demand for payment of 
$10,000,000,000 or any other amount by the President for the settlement 
of alleged legal or administrative damages: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that, while Donald Trump may be able to individually sue for damages in 
an independent article III court like any other citizen, because of the 
Domestic Emoluments Clause contained in article II, section 1, clause 7 
of the Constitution, the Department of Justice and every other Federal 
department or agency is categorically forbidden to administratively 
``settle'' such a lawsuit brought by the President and to directly 
confer a monetary payment on him of any kind outside of his official 
salary.
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