On June 14, 2017, 196 members of Congress (30 members of the Senate and 166 members of the House of Representatives) filed this lawsuit against President Donald Trump in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. They sought a declaratory judgment establishing that President Trump had violated the United States Constitution by accepting monetary and other benefits from foreign states without first obtaining “the Consent of the Congress” as required by the Foreign Emoluments Clause. The members of Congress, represented by the Constitutional Accountability Center, also sought an injunction ordering President Trump not to accept any such foreign benefits without first obtaining the consent of Congress.
President Trump had failed to seek congressional approval for at least some publicly-reported foreign benefits. He had publicly stated that some of the hundreds of entities that he owned had received funds and profits from payments made by foreign governments, and public reporting had confirmed such transactions since he took office. Examples included the president’s acceptance of intellectual property rights from the Chinese government, his acceptance of licensing fees from the government of the United Kingdom for his television show “The Apprentice,” and acceptance of payments from foreign diplomats staying in his hotels in Washington, D.C.—all in 2017. The members of Congress alleged that by accepting these benefits, the president had thwarted the transparency that the “Consent of the Congress” provision was designed to provide; denied them the opportunity, as members of Congress, to give or withhold their consent; and injured them in their constitutional role as members of Congress.
An amended complaint was filed on August 15, 2017, adding additional U.S. Representatives as plaintiffs and amending some of the factual allegations.
On September 15, 2017, President Trump filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, lack of a cause of action, and failure to state a claim. On September 28, 2018, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan denied this motion in part, finding that the members of Congress had standing to sue the president for violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause, and that the court therefore had jurisdiction to hear the case. 335 F.Supp.3d 45. The court deferred judgment on the other elements of the president’s motion to dismiss.
On April 30, 2019, the court addressed those elements, fully denying the president’s motion to dismiss. 373 F.Supp.3d 191. It found that the members of Congress had properly stated a claim, that they had a cause of action under the Foreign Emoluments Clause, and that the injunctive relief they sought was constitutional. The president sought certification of the judgments (permission from the court to file an immediate appeal); the court denied certification. 382 F.Supp.3d 77.
In a second amended complaint, dated June 25, 2019, the group of plaintiffs included 29 senators and 186 representatives.
On July 19, 2019, the District of Columbia Circuit found that the district court had abused its discretion in denying certification for appeal, but nevertheless declined to compel the district court to certify. Rather, the appeals court remanded the question to the district court with a strong recommendation that the district court opt to certify for appeal. The same day, in response to the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, the district court voluntarily stayed discovery. On August 21, 2019, the district court reversed itself, granting certification for immediate appeal. President Trump then appealed.
On February 7, 2020, the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court, ruling that the members of Congress did not actually have standing to sue. 949 F.3d 14. Because they were suing as individuals, rather than as Congress, they could not assert the institutional interests of Congress, and the court had no jurisdiction over their claims. The court remanded to the district court with instructions to dismiss the case.
The members of Congress appealed to the Supreme Court on July 6, 2020. As of July 17, 2020, the Court’s acceptance of that appeal is pending.
Robert Carnes - 10/27/2017
Robert Carnes - 02/05/2018
Virginia Weeks - 03/11/2018
Erica Becker - 03/14/2019
- 07/16/2020
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