Senate Democrats Are Leading The Fight Against Trump’s Corruption
Since taking office in 2025, Donald Trump has used his position to engage in an unprecedented amount of corruption, enriching himself, his family, and his allies at the expense of working families. As Americans are being crushed by Trump’s affordability crisis, Trump is focused on how much more he can take from taxpayers for personal profit. Since Trump’s term started, his family has made more than $4 billion since, including more than $2.2 billion for just himself. Trump’s unchecked corruption and utter chaos have cost American families as prices soar on everything from health care to housing, and Senate Republicans are rubberstamping it all.
Senate Democrats have been leading the charge to rein in Trump’s corruption, hold him accountable, and cut costs for American workers and families. As part of their new anti-corruption initiative, Democrats exposed how Trump’s self-dealing is crippling family budgets and introduced legislation to create the first-ever Anti-Corruption Bureau and to stop Trump’s pay-to-play pardon scheme.
Read More on what Senate Democrats are doing to fight Trump’s corruption:
Bloomberg Government - Democrats Offer Measure to Deter ‘Corrupt’ Presidential Pardons. “Those who receive presidential pardons would be required to disclose any financial gifts made in connection with their clemency under new bicameral legislation Democrats introduced Monday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Administration ranking member Joe Morelle offered the No Payoffs for Pardons Act, which aims to increase transparency in presidential pardons. The bill comes as presidential pardons in the last few years have been heavily scrutinized, including President Donald Trump’s sweeping clemency grant to over 1,000 participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the US Capitol.” [Bloomberg Government, 8/3/26]
WaPo - Schumer Pitches New Federal Agency To Investigate Corruption. “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) is set to introduce legislation Thursday to create a new federal agency to investigate corruption in response to President Donald Trump’s administration. The bill is part of Democrats’ effort to articulate a legislative agenda ahead of the midterm elections, in which the party is fighting to retake the House and the Senate. Much of the party’s agenda is built around plans to lower the cost of housing, energy, health care, food and child care.” [WaPo, 07/30/26]
Heinrich, Murray Lead 37 Colleagues in Demanding Trump Administration Restore Funding for Energy Projects That Were Illegally Canceled and Politically Targeted – “U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, were joined by 37 Senators in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought demanding that the Trump administration restore funding for the 223 energy projects canceled in October 2025. The Trump administration has since admitted to illegally canceling energy grants because those projects were in states that did not vote for President Trump in the 2024 election.” [Press Release, 7/30/26]
WaPo - Senate Democrats Probe Korean Firm’s $2 Million Payment To Trump Company. “Senate Democrats on Wednesday demanded that a South Korean company explain why it paid $2 million to President Donald Trump’s holding company while it was embroiled in a trade dispute with his administration, writing that the transaction ‘raises significant concerns about pay-to-play politics and the potential for bribery.’ The payment from Base Group Ltd. was described in the president’s June financial disclosure as part of a ‘letter of intent’ and a ‘nonrefundable development fee.’” [Washington Post, 8/6/26]
Courthouse News Service - Democrats Eye Transparency Measures For Presidential Pardons. “Senate Democrats are taking aim at the presidential pardon process with a new bill they say would clamp down on abuse of executive clemency by President Donald Trump. The proposed measure, unveiled Wednesday and obtained exclusively by Courthouse News, would among other things clarify that pardon abuse could be considered a bribe under federal law, and would stand up provisions designed to clamp down on presidents using pardons to shield certain individuals under government investigation.”… “The proposed Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act, introduced by a group of Senate Democrats including Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, California Senator Adam Schiff and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, would require recipients of presidential pardons to file a financial disclosure report revealing gifts or other donations given to the president before or after receiving clemency.” [Courthouse News, 8/5/26]
MS Now - Democrats Unveil Sweeping Proposal To Combat Trump Authoritarianism. “Warning that the United States already has the ‘ingredients’ of a ‘strongman state,’ a Democratic senator is rolling out a sweeping legislative package designed to curb what he calls authoritarian abuses of power — with President Donald Trump squarely in mind. The 10-part, 417-page proposal from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. — shared first with MS NOW — touches on everything from immigration enforcement to whether a sitting president’s likeness can appear on U.S. currency.” … “‘The For Our Republic Act lays out a clear roadmap of the actions Congress can take to fight back against Trump’s authoritarian takeover and reassert our authority,’ Merkley said.” [MS Now, 8/4/26]
NBC News - New Bill Would Stop Trump Media From Selling Speedy Access To President’s Posts. “Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said he plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to ban the president from selling expedited access to his statements after President Donald Trump’s social media company launched a paid service over the weekend for real-time, potentially market-moving alerts. According to a copy of the legislation provided by Padilla’s office, it would ban the president and the vice president and any entities in which they have substantial financial interests — including partnerships or companies with members of their families — from selling nonpublic information, including real-time data feeds of information derived from their positions in government. It would also ban any third party from purchasing any such information derived from the president or the vice president.” … “Padilla, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he is calling the legislation the Stop Corrupt Trading Act.” [NBC News, 8/4/26]
The Hill- Senate Democrat Unveils Bill Barring Social Media From Selling Early Access To Official Posts After Trump API Launch. “Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) unveiled legislation Monday that would bar social media companies from selling expedited access to posts from government officials following the launch of Truth API. President Trump’s media company launched the service over the weekend, which gives Wall Street firms advance access to Truth Social’s ‘most market-moving’ posts. Warner’s bill, called the No Preferential Release of Federal Information for Transactions (NO PROFIT) Act, would ban social media firms from selling prioritized access to accounts associated with the president, vice president, members of Congress and other government employees.” [The Hill, 8/4/26]
CNN - Exclusive: Elizabeth Warren Demands SEC Investigate If Trump’s Memecoin Is An ‘Illegal Scam’. “Days before his inauguration in 2025, president-elect Donald Trump did something unusual: He launched a memecoin. That memecoin briefly exploded in value – and then crashed in an epic selloff that left nearly a million investors facing losses. Now, a pair of Senate Democrats are demanding Trump’s top Wall Street cop investigate the mess. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal are calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Trump’s memecoin ‘to detect any illegal fraud or unjust enrichment that the coin may have facilitated.’” [CNN, 8/4/26]
Murphy Introduces Bill To Block Trump From Taking Qatari Jet With Him When He Leaves Office. - “U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, alongside U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), introduced legislation to block President Trump from taking the luxury jumbo jet gifted by the Qatari government with him for his own personal use after he leaves office. The Luxury Jet Ethics and Transparency Act would bar Trump from transferring the jet away from the U.S. Air Force to his personal control – in line with the brazenly corrupt plan he, his administration, and his family cling to. The bill would also require an independent GAO review of the cost of the jet’s retrofit and the potential conflicts of interest and national security impacts of the president accepting a $400 million plane from a foreign country.” [Press Release, 7/15/26]
CNBC - Democrats Demand Information On Trump And Lutnick Families’ Ties To Critical Mineral Deals. “Democratic senators on Friday demanded information on more than a dozen critical mineral deals with the federal government that potentially benefit the families of President Donald Trump or Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.” … “The senators asked the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior and the Export-Import Bank of the United States to preserve all records and communications related to those deals.” … “‘It is especially important that federal investments meant to secure vital national security and economic interests like critical minerals are based on the merits, and that decisions to spend taxpayer dollars to secure these resources are made free of conflicts of interest,’ Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Adam Schiff of California, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in a letter to the agencies.”[CNBC, 7/31/26]
Luján Introduces Bill To Ban DOJ Immunity For Presidents. “Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the No Trump Immunity Act, legislation to prohibit the Department of Justice (DOJ) from granting immunity to the President, the Vice President, their immediate family members, trusts, related companies, or affiliates.” … “‘Americans deserve to know that no one is above the law, especially the President of the United States,’ said Senator Luján.” [Press Release, 7/30/26]
Hirono, Johnson Introduce Legislation to Increase Judiciary Transparency – “U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee over Federal Courts, introduced the Open Meetings Act, legislation to require Judicial Conference meetings to be more open and accessible to the American people. The Judicial Conference is the policymaking and administrative governing body for the federal court system. By granting public access to these meetings by default, this bill will increase transparency in the Judiciary.” [Press Release, 7/29/26]
CNBC - Baldwin, Khanna Propose New Direct Foreign Investment Review Board To Probe Trump’s Deals. “Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Ro Khanna are introducing a bill Thursday to establish a federal review board for direct foreign investment in the U.S., as President Donald Trump courts global ventures as part of trade deals he makes with nations around the globe. The bill, shared exclusively with CNBC before it is introduced, would create the ‘Foreign Investment Review Authority’ as an independent executive branch authority. The panel would be responsible for reviewing direct foreign investments and determining whether they are permissible. It would function as a board, with a chair appointed by the president, subject to Senate confirmation; designees of the secretaries of Commerce and Labor and the attorney general; along with four presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed board members from a political party that is not the same as the president’s.” [CNBC, 7/11/26]
Kelly, Raskin, Whitehouse Introduce Bill to Protect U.S. Elections, Crack Down on Corrupt Influence of Foreign Money - “Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), alongside Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), introduced the bicameral Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act to crack down on the corrupt influence of foreign money in American elections. As foreign ownership in American companies skyrockets, this legislation seeks to close a major loophole that has allowed U.S. companies that are largely owned by foreign entities to pour unlimited sums of money into our elections. This legislation builds on Kelly’s efforts to get corporate money out of American politics. In January, Kelly led a series of speeches on the Senate floor regarding the 16th anniversary of the Citizens United v. FEC decision, which allowed dark money into American Democracy. [Press Release, 7/24/26]
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