6 January 2017 Currents
> continued from page 5 ever , from any king , prince , or foreign state .”
Does the Foreign Gifts Clause and its office under the United States language apply to the presidency ? There are three good reasons to believe that it does not .
First , the Constitution does not rely on generalized “ office ” language to refer to the president and vice president . Where a provision is meant to apply to such apex or elected officials , the provision expressly names those officials . For example , the Impeachment Clause applies to the “ president , vice president and all civil officers of the United States ...”
Second , the Foreign Gifts Clause was given an early construction by George Washington .
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