Coalition Urges Congress To Block Trump’s $1.8B IRS Slush Fund

By Public Citizen

Photos: Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a coalition of watchdog groups, small business leaders, former law enforcement, and lawmakers called on Congress to take immediate legislative action to permanently dismantle President Trump’s secret $1.8 billion settlement fund and lifetime tax-audit exemption. 

Advocates from Common Cause and Public Citizen are pressing Congress to: 

• Introduce Senate budget amendments to immediately freeze and permanently block the $1.8 billion slush fund. 
• Pass legislation currently pending in both the House and Senate to block this deal and prevent any future administration from executing secret, unaccountable presidential settlement funds. 
• Use oversight tools and Attorney General nomination hearings to hold accountable those involved in the self-serving tax pardon – which runs directly counter to laws prohibiting executive interference in the IRS. 

Although a court order has forced the Trump Administration to temporarily pause the slush fund, administration officials have not committed to permanently dropping it. The danger remains until there is a final ruling on the litigation and Congress acts.  

“The president’s corrupt deal to create a $1.8 billion slush fund and dodge pending audits for the rest of his life is a slap in the face of hardworking Americans,” said Abigail Bellows, Common Cause’s Senior Policy Director for Anti-Corruption and Accountability. “Congress has a constitutional duty to protect taxpayer dollars from being exploited, and passing these legislative measures is the only way to shut the door permanently on this executive overreach.”

“We can hardly trust the word of the most corrupt administration in American history when it says it is renouncing what may be the most corrupt act in American history. The only way we’ll know that a stake has been nailed through the heart of this deal is if Congress acts to prohibit it. Senate Republicans, we’re looking at you,” said Rob Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen.  

“This slush fund is nothing more than an extension of President Trump’s sweeping January 6 pardons by using taxpayer dollars to reward the President and his allies, including those who violently stormed our Capitol and assaulted police officers,” said Sen. Durbin (D-IL). “While the President continues with his misplaced priorities—such as building a Gilded Age ballroom and constructing a new golden arch—this press conference is an opportunity to yet again demand transparency and stand up for the American people.” 

“Trump’s ‘cop-beaters slush fund’ and sweetheart tax amnesty deal reeked of corruption from the very beginning.  It’s no wonder this rotten deal seems to be blowing up in Trump and his MAGA stooges’ faces,” said Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI).  “All eyes now turn to the Southern District of Florida, where a federal judge launched an inquiry into the very real prospect of fraud on the court.  We will keep the heat on until we get to the bottom of this wild and brazen corruption.” 

“We have seen time and again the president have to abandon corrupt and unlawful schemes in the face of litigation and public pressure. If these rumors are true, the administration abandoning its illegal slush fund would be a major victory for people in America. Until the administration fully abandons the scheme, it’s beyond dispute that it will not recur, and our clients’ harm is remedied, we will be in court challenging it,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward.  

The coalition highlighted that the true fiscal impact extends beyond just the $1.8 billion slush fund. The backdoor agreement also allows the president to bypass mandatory IRS audits, potentially depriving the Treasury of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. 

“Taxpayers have a right to assume that all filers are treated fairly and equally.  The proposed settlement sends the regrettable, and unprecedented, signal that powerful people can arrange to avoid having their tax returns reviewed at all,” said John Koskinen, former IRS Commissioner.     

Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who was injured on January 6 and is a plaintiff in Public Integrity Project’s lawsuit against the slush fund, said, “Taxpayer dollars must never go toward rewarding people who assaulted law enforcement officers doing their jobs. I was there on January 6, I saw what happened, and handing benefits or payments to those insurrectionists sends a dangerous message that political violence pays off. If we let that stand, we are not just ignoring history, we are inviting it to repeat itself.” 

Lauren Bealore, National Director of Policy Programs at Main Street Alliance, a network of 30,000 small business owners, said, “President Trump’s slush fund proposal threatens to divert public resources away from the transparent, accountable investments that small businesses rely on to grow, hire, and serve their communities. Small business owners need policies that strengthen local economies, expand opportunity, and create a level playing field, not funding mechanisms that can be directed without meaningful oversight. At a time of rising costs and economic uncertainty, public resources should be used to support Main Street businesses and the communities they drive forward.” 

Advocates delivered a petition with nearly 200,000 signatures – spanning every congressional district – urging the Senate majority leadership to immediately stop this heist of public funds.