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What Benefits Did Trump Lost or Still Could Loose as an Impeached President?



You can't put Trumpie Humpie together again but you could make an Omelette

 Donald Trump's  impeachment trial was not the tipping point that removes him from office, even if he was convicted — Joe Biden will already have taken over, like he did.

But it does raise a question: what about all the benefits a former US president gets after leaving office?

Former presidents and vice-presidents are usually guaranteed pensions, security, travel allowances and a raft of other entitlementsafter finishing up at the White House.

An impeachment conviction has never happened before, so it's not certain at this stage exactly which of these benefits Mr Trump would get to keep and which he wouldn't.

Here's what we know about the process so far 

A life-long pension

The Former Presidents Act says former presidents "shall be entitled for the remainder of his life to receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a rate per annum ... which is equal to the annual rate of basic pay" (in this instance, we're looking at more than US$200,000) unless they're employed by the Federal Government in some other capacity.

Former presidents aren't entitled to this pension if they were convicted in an impeachment trial or removed from office — but only if either of those happened while still serving.

Because Donald Trump's potential impeachment conviction won't actually remove him from office, there's a good chance he will get to keep his pension.

Michigan State University College of Law's Professor Brian Kalt told US network WUSA that the key to defining "former presidents" under the Act is that the president in question's term in office has to end due to something other than impeachment or removal.

"In other words, if his term ends on the 20th at noon, he gets these benefits under current law. If he resigns, he gets them too," Professor Kalt told the news outlet.

Access to classified briefings and intelligence

Former presidents usually have access to routine intelligence briefings, but there have been strong calls to ensure Mr Trump does not continue having access to classified intelligence.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post last week, Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Susan Gordon urged the new administration to "cut off his intelligence". 

"My recommendation, as a 30-plus-year veteran of the intelligence community, is not to provide him any briefings after January 20," Ms Gordon wrote. 

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff agreed with Ms Gordon, telling CBS program Face the Nation over the weekend that there's "no circumstance" in which Mr Trump should get any further intelligence briefings.

"I don't think he can be trusted with it now, and in the future he certainly can't be trusted," he told the program.

"Indeed there were, I think, any number of intelligence partners of ours around the world who probably started withholding information from us because they didn't trust the president would safeguard that information."

If the Senate did want to pass laws to strip Mr Trump of post-presidency benefits, like access to classified intel, a vote of 50 per cent in favour would be needed to make it happen.

Now that the Democrats hold the majority in the Senate, it's fairly likely they would be able to succeed if a vote was brought.

Security protection 

There's a clause in a section of the US Code called Powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service that specifies that the Secret Service is authorised to protect:

  • Former presidents and spouses "for their lifetimes" (unless the spouse of the former president remarries)
  • Children of former presidents under the age of 16 (Mr Trump's youngest son Barron is only 14)

Former vice-presidents, their spouses and kids under 16 also get Secret Service protection, but only for six months after leaving office. 

Again, there's a chance the Senate could vote to limit Mr Trump's protection, but it's not immediately clear whether that's on the agenda. 

There are also variations in the definition of "former president" across legislation regarding Secret Service protection.

But this issue would only likely come up for debate if Mr Trump is convicted in the first place.

Barack Obama reinstated lifetime Secret Service protection for former presidents and first ladies in 2013, after it was limited in 1994 to a decade after leaving office.

Office staff and space

The Former Presidents Act allows for a private office space and staff that "shall be responsible only to him" for all former presidents.

The space is "appropriately furnished and equipped" by the Administrator of General Services, and the former president gets to choose where the office is (as long as it's in the US). 

A Congressional Research Service report last revised in 2016 called out concerns over "unprecedented vagueness" in this section of the Act, including that it could become an expensive exercise.

Capitol Hill news outlet Roll Call reports that "allowances and office staff" for the four ex-presidents who are still alive set taxpayers back US$3.9 million in 2020, and Public Citizen government affairs lobbyist Craig Holman told the publication it's likely Mr Trump will cash in on this section of the Act if he can.

The Senate would have to vote to strip Donald Trump of most post-presidential benefits.(

AP: Susan Walsh

)

"A post-president Trump is likely to bill the federal government for an excessively lavish vacation (or) office space at one of his own resorts, such as Mar-a-Lago, which, in effect, will also be double billing," he told the outlet.

"Not only will Trump receive luxurious office space free of charge, taxpayer dollars paying for it will go into Trump's own pocket."

Similarly to other former presidential benefits, they're only stripped automatically if a president is convicted while still in office.

Because Joe Biden will have already taken over by the time a conviction is or isn't handed down, Mr Trump will likely get to keep this allowance unless the Senate specifically votes otherwise. 

Travel and security expenses, including for family

Former presidents can cash in on up to US$1 million a year for "security and travel related expenses", according to the Act.

It also allows for up to $500,000 for a former president's spouse for the same expenses. 

However, the Act specifies that those allowances are only accessible by a former president and their spouse if they're "not receiving protection for a lifetime provided by the United States Secret Service", if that protection has expired or if the security was declined.

If Donald Trump is convicted, the Senate would need to vote specifically to take this allowance off him. 


  "widow's allowance"

The Former Presidents Act rules that the "widow of each former President shall be entitled to receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a rate of $20,000 per annum" from the day the former president dies.

The payments will terminate if said former president's spouse remarries before they turn 60.

There's obviously a fair few caveats with this one — like that Mr Trump would have to die, and his wife Melania would not be able to remarry before her 60th birthday (she's 50 now).

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