Senator Murray, Democrats Introduce Bill to Require President and Vice President to Fully Divest Personal Financial Conflicts of Interest

Senators Also Reiterate Their Demand for Trump to Comply with Constitution’s Emoluments Clause

Murray: “During his campaign, Donald Trump promised to stand with American workers and families, and to fight back against a rigged system, but actions speak a lot louder than words”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) joined more than twenty of her Democratic colleagues to introduce the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act of 2017, which would require the President and Vice President to disclose and divest any potential financial conflicts of interest. It also would require presidential appointees to recuse themselves from any specific matters involving the President’s financial conflicts of interest that come before their agencies.

 Senator Murray said. “This bill would be a strong step toward transparency and making sure any president, but particularly President-elect Trump, with his unprecedented business dealings and conflicts of interest, assures the public he or she is always acting in the best interest of the country and not merely working for himself or other millionaires, billionaires, and special interests.”

The members have consistently demanded more transparency and accountability from President-elect Trump. In November, Democratic senators filed a Resolution stating the Senate’s expectation that President-elect Trump must decisively and transparently divest all of his business interests and holdings and completely sever his affiliation with the Trump Organization to avoid any actual or perceived conflicts with the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits the President from accepting gifts or benefits from foreign governmental actors.

Original co-sponsors of this legislation in the Senate included Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

Read the Fact Sheet here (PDF).

Read the Bill Text here (PDF).

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