NOTE: This is the second post regarding the U.S. Constitution’s emolluments clausees. This post discusses the foreign emolluments clause regarding accepting anything of value from a foreign government.
America’s Founders believed that corruption and foreign influence were among the gravest threats to our nation. As a result, they included in our Constitution the Foreign Emoluments Clause. Written in sweeping and unqualified language, the Clause was designed to prevent these two evils from affecting the federal government. This document explores the text and history of the Clause, providing statements from the Founders themselves and the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel,which among other things provides “legal advice to the Executive Branch on all constitutional questions.”1
Text of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 8.
“No Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” Continue reading “The Text and History of the Foreign Emoluments Clause”