{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/hirono-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-block-donald-trump-from-getting-230-million-taxpayer-payout-from-justice-department", "Hirono, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Block Donald Trump from Getting $230 Million Taxpayer Payout from Justice Department", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "HI", "Mazie K. Hirono", "H001042", "www.hirono.senate.gov", "hirono", "https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and six colleagues in introducing the No Torts for Trump Act, legislation to prohibit sitting presidents from seeking taxpayer-funded payouts under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). This follows recent reporting that President Trump is pressing the Justice Department to pay him roughly $230 million as a settlement for proper investigations he faced under the Biden administration and during his first term in office.\n\n\u201cTrump is turning the DOJ into his personal law firm, and now he\u2019s trying to use it as his personal piggy bank too\u2014demanding the Department pay him over $200 million as some form of a deceitful settlement,\u201d said Senator Hirono. \u201cWhile Trump tries to line his pockets with taxpayer dollars, this legislation will help to ensure neither he, nor any future president, will be able to carry out this kind of blatant corruption.\u201d\n\nLast month, President Trump submitted complaints through an administrative claim process under the FTCA, which Congress enacted to authorize plaintiffs to obtain compensation from the United States for the torts of federal employees. In these claims, President Trump alleged his rights were violated during the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s (FBI) investigation into his 2016 campaign\u2019s ties to Russia and during the investigation and prosecution for allegedly mishandling hundreds of pages of classified documents.\n\nPresident Trump\u2019s claims pose substantial and concerning ethical challenges due to the unprecedented nature of his demands. Any settlement claims to the DOJ for more than $4 million must be approved by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche or Associate Attorney General for the Civil Division Stanley Woodword \u2013 both of whom have personally represented President Trump.\n\nThe No Torts for Trump Act would amend the FTCA to exclude the president from being eligible to seek relief under the law regardless of when the tort took place or claim was filed.\n\nThe legislation is supported by Democracy Defenders Action, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Protect Democracy, and Public Citizen.\n\nIn addition to Senators Hirono and Schiff, this bill is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).\n\nThe full text of the legislation is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/hirono-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-block-donald-trump-from-getting-230-million-taxpayer-payout-from-justice-department"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.6176529936492443, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}