1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

On February 18, 2026, NPR reported that President Trump has filed claims seeking $10.23 billion from the federal government he runs. $230 million from the DOJ for investigations that federal courts authorized. $10 billion from the IRS for a leak that happened on his own watch, under his own appointees. He has already pulled $91.5 million from Paramount, Meta, and Disney through settlements routed to his presidential library, while his administration simultaneously held merger approvals and antitrust cases over those same companies. The officials who would sign off on any taxpayer payout are his own former criminal defense attorneys, Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward, now installed at DOJ. The ethics lawyers who would flag that conflict have been fired. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a brief on February 12 calling the IRS settlement unconstitutional under the Domestic Emoluments Clause. Conservative legal scholar Edward Whelan, a former Scalia clerk, called the arrangement “outrageous.” Republican senators Tillis, Capito, Graham, and Cramer have all voiced alarm. Every dollar that funds these agencies, every institution that grants a president this kind of authority, was built by taxpayers who expected it to serve the country, not the person holding the office. What’s happening now is its direct opposite. I urge you to co-sponsor the No Torts for Trump Act to block the $230 million DOJ payout, demand Senate Judiciary hearings into the conflicts inside DOJ, and push for an independent review of every settlement directing money to Trump-controlled entities since January 20, 2025. Members of both parties have already raised concerns. Act on them.