House Judiciary Democrats introduce resolution urging Trump to seek congressional approval before accepting foreign aircraft

Speaker 1 (Speaker) told the House Judiciary Committee that Democrats on the committee have introduced a resolution requiring former President Donald Trump to come to Congress before accepting a foreign gift described by the speaker as a roughly $400,000,000 aircraft.

"All we're saying to Donald Trump is follow the constitution," the speaker said, adding that the Constitution prohibits accepting a present from a foreign government "without coming to congress first." The speaker characterized the proposed aircraft as an unprecedented emolument and said, "Nobody has ever even attempted to collect an emolument like that before."

The speaker said the resolution was "introduced by every member of the House Judiciary Committee on the Democratic side" and described its intent as a demand that Trump present his proposal to Congress so lawmakers can "weigh the pros and cons of his accepting it." The speaker invoked an 1862 precedent involving President Abraham Lincoln and a gift of elephant tusks from the king of Siam as an historical example of Congress exercising judgment over such matters.

The transcript does not record a vote on the resolution nor any formal committee action beyond the speaker's statement that the resolution was introduced. The speaker framed the measure as a request that Congress decide whether the acceptance of the aircraft would create an unacceptable conflict under the Constitution's restrictions on emoluments.

The discussion in the provided transcript excerpt was limited to the speaker's remarks; no committee member names, staff analysis, legal citations beyond the speaker's reference to the Constitution, or next steps for committee consideration were recorded in the excerpt.