Press Releases

Ranking Member Raskin’s Statement on Trump’s Executive Order to End Enforcement of Foreign Bribery Ban

Washington, February 11, 2025

Washington, D.C. (February 11, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s latest executive order to pause the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law that prohibits Americans from bribing foreign government officials to obtain or keep business deals:

“By pulling the plug on prosecutions for bribery and other foreign corrupt practices, Musk and Trump are not making America great again, but they are definitely making it a lot more corrupt. From day one, co-Presidents Trump and Musk have put the greed of their billionaire partners before the interests of the American people. This new executive order directing the Department of Justice to stop prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials puts America on the side of ‘routine’ corrupt business practices all over the world.

“This executive order isn’t the only step the Administration has taken to weaken efforts to stop foreign corruption. Immediately upon taking office as Attorney General, Pam Bondi has taken drastic steps to gut DOJ’s enforcement of white-collar crimes, including disbanding the DOJ National Security Division’s Corporate Enforcement Unit, which helped hold to account sinister corporate actors who helped Russia, China, Iran, North Korea evade U.S. and international sanctions. As we speak, DOGE is dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the primary agency protecting consumers against banking fraud, cyber-ripoffs, and abusive corporate practices. Now the Administration is giving corporations free rein to pay bribes, kickbacks, and financial tribute to corrupt foreign officials with the promise that they will not face prosecution.

“The Trump-Musk Administration is making bribery and corruption perfectly legal again. The prices of eggs and other groceries, housing and rent and electricity continue to soar, but it just became a lot cheaper to engage in political corruption.”