Under the clear statement rule, it likely will not.

Josh Blackman | 1.8.2026 2:30 PM

There is much uncertainty concerning President Trump's plans with regard to revenue from Venezuelan oil. Now, there is some chatter now whether Trump may violate the Miscellaneous Receipts Act. This law provides, in part, "an official or agent of the Government receiving money for the Government from any source shall deposit the money in the Treasury as soon as practicable without deduction for any charge or claim."

Of course, the chatter has skipped over the threshold question: is the President subject to this statute? Ed Whelan does not resolve this issue in his post:

Whether or not the president is "an official … of the Government" for purposes of this provision, the subordinates who would be taking part in the actual receipt of the money surely are.

I think the most likely answer is that the President is not subject to this statute.

First, we have to consider the Clear Statement Rule in light of Franklin v. Massachusetts and Trump v. United States, coupled with OLC opinions from William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia. Seth and I discussed this background in our recent post on the........

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