{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-garcia-introduce-new-bill-to-stop-apparent-bribery-involving-trump-ballroom-donations", "Warren, Garcia Introduce New Bill to Stop Apparent Bribery Involving Trump Ballroom Donations", "2025-11-18", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren, Garcia Introduce New Bill to Stop Apparent Bribery Involving Trump Ballroom Donations\n\nWealthy donors with business in front of Trump admin raise bribery concerns\n\nStop Ballroom Bribery Act would root out pay-to-play opportunities involving public property primarily used by President or Vice President\n\nBill Text (PDF) | Bill Two-Pager (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, introduced the Stop Ballroom Bribery Act to root out apparent bribery and corruption involving President Trump\u2019s ballroom, the first piece of legislation addressing the ballroom that would impose donation restrictions. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee Committee on Investigations, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) joined as co-sponsors.\n\nWealthy individuals, corporations, and organizations have lined up to fund President Donald Trump\u2019s new $300 million White House ballroom, many of whom currently need something from the Trump administration \u2014 raising serious concerns of quid-pro-quo arrangements and possible bribery. Ethics experts have argued that the apparent pay-to-play relationship between Trump and business leaders oversteps the norms of presidential behavior and could erode Americans\u2019 trust in government.\n\n\u201cBillionaires and giant corporations with business in front of this administration are lining up to dump millions into Trump\u2019s new ballroom \u2014 and Trump is showing them where to sign on the dotted line. Americans shouldn\u2019t have to wonder whether President Trump is building a ballroom to facilitate a pay-to-play scheme for political favors. My new bill will put an end to what looks like bribery in plain sight,\u201d said Senator Warren.\n\n\"Donald Trump is raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build himself a White House ballroom at a time when millions of American families can barely make ends meet,\" said Ranking Member Robert Garcia. \"It's outrageous that the White House won\u2019t reveal who\u2019s bankrolling Trump\u2019s pet project, and that the people\u2019s house could be funded by shady figures, corrupt money, and bad actors. This bill will ban contributions from anyone with a conflict of interest, prevent bribery, and ensure we can hold any administration accountable for blatant corruption.\"\n\n\u201cPresident Trump has put a \u2018for sale\u2019 sign on the White House\u2014soliciting hundreds of millions of dollars from special interests to fund his $300 million vanity project. Our measure is a direct response to Trump\u2019s ballroom boondoggle. With commonsense reforms to how the federal government can use private donations, our legislation prevents President Trump and future presidents from using construction projects as vehicles for corruption and personal vanity,\u201d said Senator Blumenthal.\n\nKey ballroom donors currently have business interests in front of the Trump administration. For example, Google, which recently donated $22 million to settle President Trump\u2019s censorship lawsuit against YouTube, will benefit if Trump\u2019s DOJ decides not to appeal a recent judicial ruling in a relevant antitrust case. Meanwhile, Union Pacific Railroad is seeking federal approval of a lucrative merger and Palantir is working to get more federal contracts.\n\nThe White House has refused to be fully transparent, publishing only a noncomprehensive donor list missing multiple key donors and offering donors anonymity. Donations for projects like the ballroom are often channeled through the National Park Service (NPS) and philanthropic partners; nonprofits with formal ties to property used by the President and Vice President raise unique conflict-of-interest risks when fundraising from individuals and corporations with interests in front of the federal government.\n\nThe Stop Ballroom Bribery Act would:\n\nImpose pre-donation restrictions. A donation could only be used for applicable projects if the Senate-confirmed directors of the National Park Service (NPS) and Office of Government Ethics (OGE) determine that the donation complies with key restrictions, including:\n\nBan donations from entities and individuals that present a conflict of interest.\n\nMake clear that donations cannot be conditioned on receipt of benefits from the federal government, be coerced, or appear to influence government action.\n\nBan the President, VP, and their families and staff from soliciting donations.\n\nRequire Congress to approve any foreign government donations.\n\nImpose post-donation restrictions, including:\n\nProhibit displaying donors\u2019 names and logos as recognition of the donation.\n\nImpose a two-year cooling-off period before a donor to a covered project can lobby the federal government.\n\nProhibit converting leftover donated funds to anyone\u2019s personal use or using leftover funds to benefit the President, VP, or their family or staff.\n\nRequire transparency, including:\n\nDonors must disclose any meetings with the federal government (including the President and VP and their spouses, children, and agents working on their behalf) that occur within one year of the donation.\n\nNPS must publish on a quarterly basis details of all donations to covered projects (amount, donor name, meetings between the donor and federal government, etc.).\n\nDonations cannot be made anonymously or in someone else\u2019s name.\n\nEnable enforcement, including:\n\nPermit judicial review of the NPS-OGE decision that a donation is permissible.\n\nAllow state attorneys general and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek civil penalties and disgorgement of the donation, and the DOJ to seek criminal penalties.\n\nThe bill would cover the construction, improvement, or other alteration of property on the White House grounds, the VP\u2019s residence, or other public property that the President or VP regularly use (such as Camp David or Air Force One); events hosted at such locations; and monuments or other structures that honor a living President or VP.\n\nThe bill is endorsed by Public Citizen, Democracy Defenders Action, People For the American Way, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause, and Transparency International U.S..\n\n\u201cOver the past year, President Trump has raised millions of dollars for vanity projects at the White House\u2014like paving over the Rose Garden and demolishing the beloved East Wing. These funds have come from private donors without meaningful transparency or accountability,\u201d said Virginia Canter, Chief Counsel and Director for Ethics and Anticorruption at Democracy Defenders Action. \u201cThe highest office in the land should never be for sale, nor should it ever appear to be. The No Auctioning Off the White House Act would restore accountability and ensure that the President\u2019s decisions about 'the People\u2019s House' are guided by integrity, not by private donations.\u201d\n\n\u201cPresident Trump's decision to unilaterally destroy the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom financed by wealthy individuals and corporations not only ignores our country's laws but raises serious ethical concerns - namely, whether individuals and corporations funded this project in the hopes of buying access and influence,\u201d said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). \u201cSenator Warren's Stop Ballroom Bribery Act would block this dangerous line of influence by inserting critical restrictions and guardrails into the donation process to ensure that government officials act in the interest of the American people rather than in the interest of donors to President Trump's personal projects. CREW proudly endorses this legislation and urges the Senate to pass it without delay.\u201d\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.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-garcia-introduce-new-bill-to-stop-apparent-bribery-involving-trump-ballroom-donations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9232042357325554, "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"}