What to Know in Washington: Trump is Running Low on Defense Cash
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Donald Trump looks likely drain his war chest for legal fees this summer, leaving the GOP frontrunner crunched for cash just as his presidential campaign ramps up spending for an expected rematch with President Joe Biden.
Trump spent $51.2 million in 2023 on legal expenses, and can tap another $26.6 million stashed in an allied super political action committee that he can use to pay his lawyers. But as his four criminal cases ramp up, those funds are expected to run out at a critical time — around July, when the Republican National Convention triggers the official start to the general election campaign.
That leaves Trump with only a few — unappealing — options to keep paying for his defense.
He could compel the Republican National Committee, which faces its own cash woes, to pay his bills, leaving the group with less money to support his campaign. He could siphon off more money from his army of small-dollar donors to his leadership PAC, Save America, which is financing his defense in multiple criminal and civil proceedings. Trump already diverts 10% of online contributions made to his reelection toward Save America for legal bills — a move which accounted for $9.9 million in 2023.
To pay his legal fees, Trump is relying on federal laws governing leadership PACs, which allow politicians to raise money that can support travel, fundraising and other political expenses.
Trump’s legal bills have been a drag on what has otherwise been a strong fundraising operation. His campaign and allied groups last year collectively spent $13.6 million more than they raised, thanks to a large nest egg of donations to Save America from 2021 and 2022, before he was actively campaigning. That fundraising buffer has nearly been depleted. Bill Allison tracks the latest on Trump’s dwindling coffers.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS voted by the narrowest-possible margin last night to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as a lawmaker returned to Washington from cancer treatment to reverse an embarrassing defeat of the charges last week.
Party leaders rushed to re-do the vote hours before polls closed in a toss-up special election in New York that later gave Democrats an extra House seat.
The Cuban-born Mayorkas, 64, the first Latino and immigrant to head the department, becomes the second Cabinet member in US history — and the first in almost 150 years — to be impeached. Yet there’s little chance the necessary two-thirds majority of the Democratic-led Senate will vote to convict him and remove him from office.
Republicans pressed the impeachment charges against Mayorkas as the party escalates attacks on the Biden administration’s border enforcement record and backlash against surging migration moves to the center of the presidential campaign.
“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border,” Homeland Security spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement last night.
The first vote to impeach Mayorkas failed last week after a deadlock, with three Republicans joining all Democrats to oppose the resolution on constitutional grounds. The dissenting GOP lawmakers argued Mayorkas was being impeached over policy differences rather than “the high crimes and misdemeanors” standard set in the Constitution.
Republicans prevailed 214-213 because of the return of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.), who was absent last week. Read more from Maeve Sheehey, Ellen M. Gilmer and Billy House.
BIDEN’S AGENDA
- The president has no public events.
- Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will hold a briefing around noon.
CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE
- The House meets at noon to tee up bill addressing SALT tax breaks and LNG exports.
- For the full detailed agenda, read BGOV’s Congress Tracker.
Also Happening on the Hill
THE RETIREMENT of Rep. Patrick McHenry at the end of the year will open the coveted top Republican spot on the Financial Services Committee, and multiple senior members are expected to compete for the job.
- Reps. Bill Huizenga (Mich.), Andy Barr (Ky.), and French Hill (Ark.) are the Republicans widely expected to seek the chairmanship or ranking member position and succeed McHenry (R-N.C.).
- Reps. Bill Posey (Fla.) and Ralph Norman (S.C.) both indicated it’s too early to make a decision. The winner will have a lead role in shaping crypto regulation and GOP trade policy. Read more.
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE pressed the Biden administration to ramp up its response to energy industry messaging on corporate sustainability ratings and climate change. The Rhode Island Democrat recently sat down with Bloomberg Government. Read more from the interview.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY is seeking another confirmation hearing for acting Labor Secretary Julie Su now that she has been renominated to take over the position on a permanent basis. Cassidy (La.) is the top Republican on the Senate’s labor panel. Read more.
OVER 140 LAWMAKERS called on Delta Air Lines to stay out of labor organizing efforts as the Teamsters and others seek to unionize one of the largest workforces in the airline industry. Read more.
THE WHITE HOUSE said it “strongly opposes” a House bill that would effectively reverse Biden’s halt on new liquefied natural gas export approvals, but stopped short of a veto threat. Read more.
People, Power, and Politics
DEMOCRAT TOM SUOZZI won the race to succeed ousted Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), according to the Associated Press, taking back a seat he previously held for three terms and narrowing the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House.
- Suozzi’s victory on yesterday over the Republican candidate, Mazi Pilip, flipped the affluent, Long Island district back to Democrats and narrows House Republicans’ already slim margin. Suozzi represented the district for three terms until 2023.
- Just before midnight, Suozzi had 53.9% to 46.1% for Pilip, with 93% of the votes counted, according to the AP. Read more.
JON STEWART’S return as part-time host of The Daily Show on Sunday night pulled in 930,000 viewers on Comedy Central, the program’s largest audience since 2018. Read more.
JARED KUSHNER said he wouldn’t rejoin a Trump administration if the Republican frontrunner wins the presidential election in November. Read more.
Defense & Foreign Affairs
LLOYD AUSTIN was released from the hospital yesterday after undergoing a procedure for a bladder issue, the latest health scare for the Pentagon secretary in weeks. Read more.
TRUMP’S remarks sowing doubt about US commitments to NATO allies may undermine an alliance central to global economic stability, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Read more.
What Else We’re Watching
THE INFLUX of asylum seekers and other migrants crossing the southern border is creating budget stress for three of the nation’s largest cities, according to S&P Global Ratings. Read more.
THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY was dealt a blow with the dismissal of a suit challenging a federal price-setting program, but the government’s victory was also muted. Read more.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com; Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com
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