On August 3, 2026, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Representative Joe Morelle introduced the No Payoffs For Pardons Act, a bill that will mandate transparency to curb corruption in the presidential pardon process.
The Constitution's pardon power was designed to give the president a tool to correct injustice. This is an important ideal, but the president’s broad pardon power has also led to some questionable acts of clemency in American history.
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has made this problem significantly worse, normalizing political corruption and transforming the federal pardon process into a loyalty-based system, where an official act of clemency can seemingly be bought.
Campaign Legal Center has been documenting the many instances of corrupt bargaining that have taken place during this administration and crafted policy recommendations for how Congress can rein in the unacceptable practice of buying a presidential pardon. Now, leading lawmakers have introduced a bill that reflects these ideas.
It’s time for Congress to pass these reforms into law and ensure that anyone who tries to purchase a presidential pardon is exposed to the light of day and held to the same legal standard to which we hold any individual seeking to bribe the government.
How does the presidential pardon power work?
The Constitution grants presidents the power to officially pardon anyone for “offenses against the United States,” relieving someone of punishment for a federal crime and restoring certain civil rights.
For decades, those seeking a pardon would file a formal petition with the Department of Justice, where career officials review applications using established criteria such as rehabilitation, acceptance of responsibility and the interests of justice.
The president’s pardon power is broad because it is meant to be deployed as a last line of defense against injustice, to offer mercy to the truly deserving. But corruption of the pardon process to favor donors, the wealthy and the well-connected denies justice to victims and undermines Americans’ faith in our democracy.
Presidential pardons have become a conduit of pay-to-play corruption.
President Trump has increasingly used pardons as a tool to reward those who have advanced his personal, political or financial interests.
Campaign Legal Center has identified three overarching categories of corrupt pardon deal-making: clemency issued as a reward to donors, or to supporters who break the law on behalf of the president; pardons issued to public officials who abused their office in exchange for their pledge of loyalty to the president’s political agenda; and pardons issued to deep-pocketed individuals who hire well-connected lobbyists or political “fixers” to secure clemency.
This corruption ranges from pardoning a cryptocurrency billionaire who pleaded guilty to money laundering after they funneled millions to Trump family businesses, to excusing a nursing home executive who stole employee payroll taxes after their mother made a massive donation to Trump's super PAC.
In the instances above, and the many other examples captured in Campaign Legal Center’s full analysis of Trump’s pardons, the pardon recipients did not pursue the traditional application process and instead opted to enrich the president and his allies in a bid for clemency.
A system that rewards money with power is a system that is not representative of the average American.
The outsized role money plays in our politics is a breeding ground for corruption; President Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that financial support for his political, personal and business interests is enough to influence his decision-making, including when it comes to using his constitutionally granted pardon power.
Trump is not the first president to misuse the pardon power to benefit donors and the politically connected — former President Bill Clinton was rebuked by members of his own party for pardoning a donor's ex-husband — and he likely won’t be the last. Congress has a responsibility to prevent corruption, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.
How can we reform the presidential pardon process?
The presidential pardon power is constitutionally guaranteed; but Congress has the authority to enact reforms that can address corruption on the part of pardon seekers.
The No Payoffs For Pardons Act is that solution.
The No Payoffs For Pardons Act requires anyone who gets a pardon to disclose anything of significant value that they provided — or that was provided on their behalf or at their direction — to the president, the president’s family or organizations that exist to advance the president’s interests. That includes donations to super PACs, dark money groups, presidential library or ballroom funds, and private businesses in which the president holds a significant financial stake.
The legislation also clarifies that corruptly paying for a presidential pardon will carry the same legal consequences as any other attempt to bribe federal officials. It would ensure any pardon recipient who engages in corrupt deal-making could be investigated and held liable under the federal bribery act.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has held that presidents have absolute immunity for core executive powers like issuing pardons, that legal principle does not extend to people who try to buy or arrange them. This bill targets that exact problem: identifying corruption by pardon seekers and holding them accountable.
The rule of law is what guards our democracy. The president is attempting to erode it at all costs and is creating the conditions for corruption to run rampant. Congress must use every tool at its disposal to protect Americans from these threats and restore a government that is truly of, by and for the people.
To read more of Campaign Legal Center’s analysis on the corruption of the presidential pardon power, check out our action page. To support our work to uphold the rule of law on behalf of the American people, join us today.