Ranking Member Raskin Notifies Secretary Hegseth He’s Violating Constitution and Federal Law By Taking $400 Million Jetliner Present From Qatar Without Obtaining Congressional Consent

Washington, D.C. (June 5, 2025)— Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth advising him to mitigate immediately his violations of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and federal law. President Donald Trump designated Hegseth the official recipient of a $400 million luxury jetliner from Qatar’s royal family after Trump and Hegseth conducted a months-long pressure campaign to obtain the gift from the Qatari government. Ranking Member Raskin also warned Secretary Hegseth that he could be on the hook for more than $400 million in penalties for violating the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act.

The letter expands Ranking Member Raskin’s probe into Trump’s Qatari plane deal following his letter to Secretary Hegseth and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff regarding their role in coercing a foreign government into making an unconstitutional and unlawful gift.

“Your own spokesperson at the Department of Defense stated: ‘The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar.’ Alas for you, this means that, as of today, you are now the one in violation of the foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, because it is plainly just as unconstitutional for you—another ‘person holding [an] Office of Profit or Trust’ of the United States—to accept this luxury plane from the monarchical government of Qatar as it is for President Trump to do so,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

As President Trump embarked on a presidential visit to the Middle East last month, he announced plans to accept a $400 million Boeing 747, often referred to as the “flying palace,” from Qatar’s royal family. President Trump intends to have the plane retrofitted for use as Air Force One, then transfer it to his presidential library for personal use at the conclusion of his term. Reports indicate that President Trump solicited and was finally offered this “gift” after a months-long shakedown campaign, which he tasked Secretary Hegseth and Witkoff with carrying out on his behalf. 

President Trump designated Secretary Hegseth as the government official to formally accept the lavish gift. Under the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, any “person holding [an] Office of Profit or Trust” is barred from accepting gifts from foreign governments without first obtaining the consent of Congress.

Secretary Hegseth is also in violation of the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, which expressly prohibits an employee of the United States from “request[ing] or otherwise encourag[ing] the tender of a gift.” The Act provides that the Attorney General may bring a civil action against any government employee who solicits a foreign gift, and allows penalties “not to exceed the retail value of the gift improperly solicited or received plus $5,000.” In other words, Secretary Hegseth may be on the hook for more than $400 million for a jumbo jet that he accepted on behalf of the President.

“Here's my advice to you—Promptly mitigate this violation by immediately seeking Congress’s consent to accept and retain this extravagant foreign gift. If you truly believe that there is nothing untoward about the President asking for and receiving a $400 million ‘flying palace’ from a foreign power, then you should let Congress and the President’s Republican colleagues vote to approve the transaction. If you’re unwilling to do that, you must return the plane to Qatar. But doing nothing is not an option,” concluded Ranking Member Raskin.

Last month, Judiciary Democrats filed a Resolution demanding that Trump comply with the Constitutional rules on foreign gifts by seeking Congressional consent before accepting the Qatari plane.

Click here to read the letter.