Trump's $5,000 Dividend Promise Is Legal, but Congress Holds the Purse Strings, Attorney Says
A criminal defense attorney says Trump's promise of a $5,000 dividend to every adult citizen is lawful, but whether it happens depends on Congress and funding.
President Donald Trump has promised a $5,000 payment to every adult citizen in the United States if Republicans keep control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm elections.
Speaking at the GOP's midterm convention in Dallas, Trump framed the proposal as a reward for economic success, saying the country is making so much money that he alone could make such a pledge. He said the payment would be called the "Trump dividend."
The promise, if carried out, could cost more than $1 trillion and would deepen the country's annual budget deficit, which stands at nearly $1.8 trillion.
John W. Day, a Santa Fe attorney who practices government misconduct and civil rights litigation, said the promise is legal. He drew a distinction between a campaign pledge and a direct bribe.
"This is a campaign promise. It's not a payment to individuals to try to get them to vote in a particular way," Day said. "I would say it's not bribery."
Day explained that the proposal would apply to all adult citizens — Democrats, Republicans and non-voters alike — which separates it from a direct payment offered in exchange for a vote. He cited a US Supreme Court case from the early 1980s in which a candidate's promise to cut his own salary was challenged as a bribe to taxpayers. The court ruled it did not amount to bribery, and Day noted that First Amendment protections are also at stake.
"If President Trump wants to get behind a podium during a campaign and says, if Republicans win, everybody in the country who's an adult gets five grand, that's theoretically protected speech," Day said.
Even so, Day said the practical fate of the proposal rests with Congress. The money would have to be appropriated or approved by lawmakers, he said, and does not exist in a fund the president can draw on unilaterally.
"Congress would have a say in whether or not it gets authorized," Day said. "And you can draw your own conclusions about whether that's likely or not."
The proposal follows an earlier idea from Trump for a $2,000 dividend that would not have required congressional approval. The president has explored unconventional approaches as he seeks to defy the historical pattern of the president's party losing seats in midterm elections.