Congress imposes 100% tax on former presidents' settlement windfalls.
H.R. 8910 — SLUSH FUND Act of 2026 · Filed by Mike Thompson (D-CA) · 48 cosponsors · Introduced May 19, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill imposes a 100% tax on settlement payments received by former U.S. Presidents, their family members, and entities they control from lawsuits filed against the federal government. It requires trustees of settlement funds to report these payments to the IRS and publicly disclose them, with penalties of 50% of unpaid taxes and $10,000 per failure to file. The bill is effective retroactively to May 20, 2026.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a 100% tax on a narrow class of settlement recipients (former Presidents and their families) combined with mandatory public disclosure. This is fundamentally an anti-corruption and transparency measure designed to prevent officeholders from profiting from litigation against the government they once led.
What the text implies
- Retroactive effective date (May 20, 2026) may apply to settlements already received or in negotiation, creating unexpected tax liability for affected parties.
- Public disclosure requirement (Section 3) means settlement amounts and recipients become permanently searchable government records, creating reputational and privacy consequences beyond the tax itself.
- The 100% tax rate effectively confiscates settlement proceeds entirely, leaving no incentive for settlement and potentially forcing litigation to verdict instead—increasing government litigation costs.
- Definition of 'controlled' entity uses corporate-control principles (Section 52), potentially capturing trusts, foundations, or business entities nominally separate from the President but beneficially owned.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill restricts the ability of former Presidents and their families to retain settlement proceeds from litigation against the U.S. government—a narrow class of beneficiaries—while increasing transparency and accountability for public funds. Ordinary citizens benefit from preventing the conversion of government settlement liability into private wealth for sitting or former officeholders.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. Treasury (tax revenue from 100% tax on settlement payments)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Treasury, Former U.S. Presidents, Presidential families, Settlement fund trustees
Where it stands
48 cosponsors: 48 Democrats.
- May 19, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 19, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,529 characters) on Aug 18, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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