On five-year anniversary of January 6 Capitol insurrection, the Senators’ bills would prevent the Trump Administration from handing out millions in taxpayer funds to Capitol rioters

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the fifth anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, joined Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in introducing a pair of bills to prevent January 6 rioters from receiving payouts from the federal government. 

Roughly 400 people who the Trump Administration pardoned or granted clemency to after their involvement in the January 6 attacks are currently seeking millions of dollars in taxpayer funds because they were prosecuted for their criminal actions. Most claimants are seeking $1 million to $10 million from the U.S. government. Leaders of the “Proud Boys” far-right militant organization alone are suing for $100 million, and senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official Ed Martin reportedly supports compensating violent January 6 insurrectionists.  

The No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act would broadly prohibit the use of federal funds to compensate any January 6 rioters who were prosecuted for their involvement in the attack on the Capitol and stop the ongoing refunds of fines that were paid as part of their convictions, while the No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act would forbid the federal government from paying out any legal settlements to any January 6 rioters who were convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers during the Capitol insurrection. 

“President Trump and his Administration have blatant contempt for our democracy and traditions of free and fair elections. When the President issued blanket pardons and commuted sentences for the January 6 rioters, he turned his back on justice, police officers, and the American people. Now, President Trump wants to give illegal, taxpayer-funded cash giveaways to the violent rioters who attacked hallowed democratic institutions,” said Senator Welch. “President Trump’s plan to give illegal, taxpayer-funded cash handouts to violent insurrectionists is outrageous and a direct insult to everyone still recovering from that harrowing day. We refuse to let taxpayer dollars get tangled up in the President’s attempt to rewrite history.” 

“Five years after a violent swarm of insurrectionists stormed our nation’s Capitol, assaulted law enforcement officers, and attacked our very democracy, issuing cash payouts to these rioters is unthinkable,” said Senator Padilla. “These insurrectionists should still be serving their sentences and paying fines for damages they caused to the Capitol — not receiving refunds or cash rewards from the Trump Administration. Our bills would hold these rioters accountable and protect taxpayers by putting an end to Donald Trump’s callous attempt to rewrite history with these illegal cash payouts.” 

“Members of both parties who were here on January 6, 2021 remember the chaos and violence of that day, which resulted in police officers’ deaths and injuries. No matter how Trump’s MAGA goons now try to twist it, the January 6 attack on our Capitol was an assault on our democracy. Trump’s blanket day-one pardons for members of the January 6 mob were a slap in the face to the brave law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to protect the country. Our bills make clear that no one who stormed the Capitol should get a taxpayer-funded cash giveaway, especially not those who violently assaulted police officers,” said Senator Whitehouse.   

The violent mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, attempting to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results, caused roughly $3 million in damages to the Capitol building, injured more than 100 law enforcement officers, and threatened members and their staff. Damage to the building included widespread vandalism, ruined furniture, shattered glass, broken doors, defaced artwork, and the desecration of the halls of Congress. Convicted January 6 insurrectionists paid about $400,000 in court-ordered restitution to cover the damages they caused, which has since been transferred to the Treasury Department, from where the funds can only be withdrawn by Congress. 

Last year, DOJ officials took a meeting with a lawyer for January 6 insurrectionists where the department was asked to create a victims compensation fund, similar to that used to compensate September 11, 2001 victims, to issue cash rewards for alleged “harms” these rioters faced. Their attorney stated that DOJ official Ed Martin is “100 percent on our side.” Any such fund would be both deeply corrupt and unlawful, as the establishment of a separate fund requires congressional action, but rioters could seek to “sue and settle” claims and raid the federal Judgment Fund instead, similar to claims that President Trump himself has made for $230 million in compensation.  

The No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act would: 

• Prohibit the use of federal funds to compensate prosecuted January 6 rioters, including by barring the establishment of a victim compensation fund and by prohibiting the Justice Department from entering into settlement agreements; 

• Prohibit further refunds of restitution payments; and 

• Authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer the remaining restitution funds to the Architect of the Capitol. 

The No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act would: 

• Apply only to January 6 rioters who were convicted of assaulting a law enforcement officer pursuant to 18 USC 111 or D.C. Code 22-405 on January 6; and 

• Bar any federal funds being used to pay any legal settlement to any such individuals, if they sue for any claims relating to January 6. 

Both bills are endorsed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); Democracy Defenders Action; Protect Democracy; Sgt. Aquilino A. Gonell, Fr. United States Capitol Police; Officer Harry Dunn, Fr. United States Capitol Police; and Officer Daniel Hodges, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (endorsement in his personal capacity). 

“I’m thankful for this legislation being proposed. On the other hand, it’s a shame that it is even being proposed. Just as I thought Americans would never attempt to stop the certification of an election through violence, never would I believe they would be rewarded for those efforts by this administration,” said Officer Harry Dunn, Fr. United States Capitol Police. 

“I’m struggling to come up with a short, compelling statement of support for these Acts that doesn’t sound absurd in its obviousness; it’s like trying to write inspiring rhetoric in support of the law of gravity. Sadly it is the political age we live in where such declarations become necessary against the backdrop of a President who suggests we would be better off if the Earth no longer reliably pulled us towards the ground, so here we go: It is a bad idea to reward those who violently attacked law enforcement officers in an effort to coerce, capture, or kill members of Congress, their staff, and the Vice President of the United States of America,” said Officer Daniel Hodges, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (endorsement in his personal capacity). “It is a bad idea to reward those who committed crimes in an effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power and terminate American democracy. These Acts will prevent either of these scenarios from becoming reality and I hope that Congress will vote with recognition that there are countless endeavors and people more worthy of our resources.” 

In addition to Senators Welch, Padilla, and Whitehouse, the No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act is cosponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).  

Read the full text of the No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act here. 

The No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act is also cosponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). 

Read the full text of the No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act here. 

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