The Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution
Congressional Research Service
Updated August 23, 2019
... The Foreign Emoluments Clause (art. I, § 9, cl. 8): “<N>o 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.”
The Domestic Emoluments Clause (a.k.a. the Presidential Emoluments Clause) (art. II, § 1, cl. 7):
“The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation which shall neither be
encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within
that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them” ...
... The purpose of the Foreign Emoluments Clause is to prevent corruption and limit foreign influence on federal
officers. The Clause grew out of the Framers’ experience with the European custom of gift-giving to foreign
diplomats, which the Articles of Confederation prohibited. Following that precedent, the Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits federal officers from accepting foreign emoluments without congressional consent. The purpose of the Domestic Emoluments Clause is to preserve the President’s independence. Under the Clause, Congress may neither increase nor decrease the President’s compensation during his term, preventing the legislature
from using its control over the President’s salary to exert influence over him. To further preserve presidential
independence, the Clause prohibits a sitting President from receiving emoluments from federal or state governments, except for his fixed salary ...
Black’s Law Dictionary defines an “emolument” as an “advantage, profit, or gain received as a result of one’s
employment or one’s holding of office.” There is significant debate as to precisely what constitutes an
emolument within the meaning of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses, particularly as to whether it
includes private, arm’s-length market transactions. The only two courts to decide this issue adopted a broad definition of “Emolument” as reaching any benefit, gain, or advantage, including profits from private market transactions not arising from an office or employ ...
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11086.pdf
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