Early next month, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will take up a spending bill that provides funding for nearly every department in the federal government. It’s a must-pass bill because, without it, the government will shut down. That’s a non-starter for many Republicans, who still feel the pain of the last time there was a government shutdown. Republicans were largely unable to shift blame to the Democrats as they attempted to do, and their popularity suffered as a result. But despite the GOP’s absolute grip on Congress, the bill is still subject to amendments, and one Democrat from Tennessee has a doozy in mind.
Representative Steve Cohen is introducing amendments to the spending plan that would ban the use of federal funds at Trump-branded properties. It covers every business listed on Trump’s financial disclosure form, including hotels, country clubs, and resorts. That means events like the ones at Mar-a-Lago where Trump has hosted dignitaries and foreign leaders would either be held elsewhere, or Trump would have to provide accommodations free of charge.
Such an arrangement would have prevented the Secret Service from having to stay in a trailer outside Trump Tower, where they moved after price negotiations fell apart over them staying inside while protecting the president. It also would have precluded the State Department from spending upwards of $15,000 on rooms at a hotel that Trump recently opened in Vancouver. Most of all, it might reduce the amount of money you and I pay for the president to spend more than 20% of his time in office (so far) at his own resorts.
In a statement Cohen released Wednesday morning, he said:
Congress should not allow the President to use his office to profit himself and his family. The President’s refusal to divest from his privately owned businesses creates a conflict of interest when steering federal spending to his resorts and other businesses … The American people should have total confidence that the President is serving their interest, not his own financial enrichment. President Trump’s refusal to disclose information to Congress or seek Congress’s authorization for accepting profits from foreign governments stemming from his sprawling foreign financial interests is a brazen violation of the Constitution and a danger to our democracy.
We couldn’t agree more, Congressman. And while these amendments stand about a snowball’s chance in hell of passing — or possibly even being brought up for a vote — it will be nice to see you force Republicans to go on record and either declare their allegiance to Donald Trump, or to the principles of conservatism.
Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images
