Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a new bill to establish an independent Anti-Corruption Bureau aimed at investigating and recovering funds obtained through executive branch corruption.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act would create a seven-member federal agency holding investigative, subpoena, oversight, enforcement and public-reporting powers, according to the press release.
According to Schumer, the bill is a direct response to what he described as President Donald Trump turning the presidency into a family business. The senator claims that Trump has received more than $2 billion and his family more than $4 billion since returning to office in 2025.
Schumer said Trump has "turned the presidency into the most profitable scam of his life," accusing Republicans of helping him "cash every check." The bureau, he said, would let regulators "follow the money" and "claw back corrupt profits."
The bill would allow private plaintiffs and state attorneys general to sue to recover money obtained through corruption by presidents, senior officials, campaign figures, and major contractors.
To shield the bureau from presidential budget control, funding would come from a dedicated Freedom From Influence Fund. It also seeks to establish a special three-judge division of the D.C. Circuit that would appoint temporary members to prevent operational shutdowns.
Democratic lawmakers have continuously called out the U.S. President for alleged conflicts of interest, including his family's cryptocurrency business ventures — most notably the DeFi and stablecoin project, World Liberty Financial.
Recent financial disclosures released by the Office of Government Ethics showed that Trump made hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto-related income. These include more than $65.6 million from the sale of equity in WLF Holdco, linked to World Liberty Financial, and $236 million in token-sale proceeds distributed by the same entity.
An earlier Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimate placed total Trump family proceeds from crypto ventures at roughly $620 million, encompassing World Liberty Financial token sales, the Trump memecoin, NFTs, and a stake in a Bitcoin mining firm.
While the White House has insisted that Trump holds no conflicts of interest, Trump's crypto ventures have complicated negotiations over the Clarity Act, comprehensive federal cryptocurrency legislation. Democratic lawmakers have expressed unwillingness to vote for the bill unless it includes ethics provisions restricting presidents and other federal officials from profiting from digital assets while in office.
Earlier this month, Trump agreed to an ethics rule that prohibits federal officials from issuing cryptocurrencies and designates the Department of Justice as the primary enforcer rather than state attorneys general. Democratic negotiators, including Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, criticized the DOJ-centered enforcement mechanism. Alsobrooks stated that such an approach was “an unserious offer” and indicated she would not support the bill in that form.
As of late July, the ethics dispute remains a barrier to finalizing bill text and advancing toward a Senate vote targeted for early August.
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