Sponsor
Kirsten Gillibrand
Senator · D-NY
Senator · D-NY
The bill protects taxpayers and preserves the political neutrality of federal property and money by barring honors for sitting Presidents, at the cost of reduced ceremonial flexibility and modest administrative/production expenses borne by agencies and taxpayers.
Taxpayers and federal employees: Federal agencies are prohibited from spending taxpayer funds or using federal assets to name, decorate, or display a sitting President's name, image, or signature (including on coins, currency, or securities), reducing government-funded self-promotion and preserving neutrality of federal property and money.
Federal employees and taxpayers: Reduces potential conflicts of interest and the perceived misuse of public property for partisan or personal branding while a President is in office, strengthening ethical norms and public trust in how federal resources are used.
Taxpayers and federal production staff: Departments that produce currency and coins (e.g., Mint, BEP) will need to change designs and procedures, creating administrative and production costs that could be borne by agencies and ultimately taxpayers.
Federal employees and government contractors: Agencies and contractors lose discretion to honor a sitting President with dedications or decorations, limiting ceremonial recognition options and flexibility for federal entities.
Middle-class families and taxpayers: Prohibiting honors while a President is in office may delay traditional or timely recognition of Presidents and their families, reducing immediate ceremonial acknowledgments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits a sitting President’s name, image, likeness, or signature from appearing on federal assets, coins, currency, securities, and bars federal funds for those uses.
Bans using a sitting President’s name, image, likeness, or signature on federal assets, including federal buildings, U.S. coins, currency, and securities, and bars use of federal funds for those purposes. The bill adds prohibitions into federal law to prevent the current President from appearing on coins, currency, securities, or other federal property while in office.
Official title: Prohibit the use of the name, image, likeness, or signature of a sitting President on Federal assets, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 16, 2026 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress April 16, 2026