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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