Ethics Loopholes #1: The President Can Legally Profit From His Own Policies?

I am writing as your constituent to demand concrete legislative action to close a dangerous loophole in our federal ethics framework: the explicit exemption of the President and Vice President from federal criminal conflict-of-interest statutes under 18 U.S.C. § 208. Public office must serve the public interest, not private financial balance sheets. Under current law, executive branch employees face strict criminal penalties if they participate in government matters affecting their personal financial holdings. Yet the highest offices in the land remain legally exempt—creating a loophole where breaking basic ethical norms carries zero consequences. When a broken legal structure meets an executive willing to exploit it, institutional corruption becomes the default mode of governing. The current administration under President Trump demonstrates how this statutory loophole creates an ongoing, repeatable system of self-dealing: - Policy-Driven Stock Trading: Federal policy decisions have been repeatedly paired with active trading in the very industries affected. A clear example includes 29 stock trades executed in private prison operators GEO Group and CoreCivic while federal immigration enforcement policies delivered record contract revenues to those exact firms. - Transactional Clemency & Fee Forgiveness: Executive pardon power and administrative discretion have been deployed alongside major financial contributions and private business deals—ranging from waiving massive financial restitution orders for convicted corporate fraudsters following political donations, to granting clemency to crypto figures as Trump family-linked digital asset ventures launched. - Regulatory Interventions for Business Partners: Federal enforcement actions and regulatory investigations have been repeatedly paused or dropped for entities that invest directly in the President’s family-owned commercial ventures, such as federal proceedings being halted shortly after massive investments were funneled into Trump family digital asset and real estate enterprises. Relying on voluntary norms and informal trusts has completely failed. This loophole will outlast any single administration unless Congress acts now to close it. I urge you to cosponsor and support H.R. 7207, the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act (or introduce/pass companion legislation in the Senate), which enforces accountability through three core provisions: 1. EXTEND 18 U.S.C. § 208: Apply criminal conflict-of-interest rules directly to the President and Vice President. 2. MANDATE BLIND TRUSTS: Require sitting chief executives to place conflicting financial assets into true, independently managed blind trusts. 3. PROTECT APPOINTEE INTEGRITY: Prohibit presidential appointees from participating in official matters that directly affect the president's private financial holdings. When ethics loopholes allow a chief executive to monetize state power, the integrity of our constitutional republic is compromised. I look forward to learning what specific legislative steps you are taking to end this self-dealing and restore ethical accountability to the executive branch.