Featured Photo: By Christine Davis from Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Source.
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As we all well know by this point, Donald Trump lost the election to former Vice-President and now President of the United States Joe Biden last November, leading to what happened at the capitol, then an impeachment and charge of insurrection against the US Government and then most recently the Senate trial, which did not last very long, and acquitted Donald Trump of the charge, as was fully expected.
So now this phase of the political theatre has ended Trump now has more freedom to focus on other things and it’s a good deal likely he will be keeping his focus set on the GOP or Republican Party, trying to influence its elections, most specifically on a national level, and possibly running again himself in the 2024 Presidential Election in a new attempt to try and secure a second term.
Now, on how much senior Republicans will try to stifle such attempted influence by Trump is up for debate, it’s likely many do not want the party to become any more Trumpist than it already has under him, but at the same time Trump’s influence and cult following, whether senior GOP officials try to stop it or not, can still be damaging to the party nonetheless, say if Trump decides to start a rival party or become an independent, which is very likely to allow Democrats an advantage over the Republicans if such is to happen, it’s a big predicament the Republicans are currently facing, and something that’s probably giving McConnel some bad dreams at night. But enough of that…
After Trump left presidential office, he established the Office of the Former President, which made it clear his intention to remain visibly involved in US Politics to a high degree. A statement by his team has also since been released, after his acquittal, telling, quite ominously, of things yet to come in the months ahead.
But what exactly is the Office of the Former President? And what benefits does it give and what are its functions?
First of all, let’s go over the benefits Former US Presidents already naturally get by the laws that are currently established. Because Former Presidents do receive a number of privileges while they remain alive.
The main piece of legislation that gives the Former President a number of special privileges is the Former Presidents Act, a piece of Federal legislation brought into law in 1958. Many of the special privileges it gives are lifelong just as long as the said Former President was not removed from office via a Senate trial, which Trump has not been removed from office despite having had two Senate trials, but as said this comes to little surprise – not the part about having two impeachments and two Senate trials, that is historically significant, but the part about him not being removed either time is well within the expected outcome as yet no US President in history has ever been removed from office after having been impeached. You can read more about the history of US Presidential impeachments here.
One of the most significant things this piece of legislation offers is lifetime Secret Service protection for both them and their spouse, which makes a lot of sense as Former Presidents and their spouses can still obviously be targeted for things they had done in office, or some people may want to hurt them or worse due to what they are continuing to do, as Former Presidents can remain influentially and monetarily active in many areas. And as well as that other bad actors can have many other reasons to target a Former President or their spouse, perhaps to send a message to the US Government or current President itself or perhaps merely for attempted monetary gain through ransom and so on so forth, many reasons.
In 1994 the above protection was reduced to just 10-years for Former Presidents who came into office after 1996 but this was reversed in 2013 under the Obama administration, allowing Former Presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower to once again have lifetime protection.
The Act also covers expenses of leaving office during the transition from one presidential administration to the other. This expenses cover lasts for seven months and covers office space, staff compensation, communication services, and associated printing and postage.
What’s more is that Former Presidents also get office space and staffing allowances and related funding for the carrying out of duties of Former Presidents, which is provided by the Administrator of the General Services Administration after a period of six months has passed since presidential office. It’s strongly likely Trump will use this benefit for his Office of the Former President.
Former Presidents are also entitled to treatment at military hospitals and this is paid by them via rates set by the Office of Management and Budget.
Former Presidents who have served two terms are also entitled to buying health insurance under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, so this one Trump would be excluded from.
Travel expenses of Former Presidents are also covered, so Chief Executives and up to two staff members are reimbursed up to $1 million annually. Spouses also receive the benefit although they are reimbursed up to $500,000 annually instead.
There is a pension, Former Presidents can currently claim a pension equal to that of a Cabinet Secretary’s pay, which as of 2021 is $221,400 per year, which is a lot of money, tax must be paid on it though. If a Former President dies and they leave behind a widow, they can claim a significantly smaller pension of $20,000 per year, just as long as they discard any other statutory pension they may be receiving.
Former Presidents also are guaranteed a ceremony with full honours after they die, with the option of being buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.
This is not all though; Former Presidents also have other benefits and privileges. There is a Presidential Townhouse that is reserved for Former Presidents to use who visit Washington D.C.
Finally, legislation allows Former Presidents to request access to classified CIA information or intelligence briefings on a level that Vice-Presidents can, which not all Former Presidents may take advantage of, and it is possible for such requests to be blocked by certain officials, although how this works is not entirely clear, but it is clear that Biden has the intention of pursing a block to any possible attempt of Trump taking advantage of this. So, it would appear that this is not a guaranteed right of Former Presidents by law, but as said law does provide them the security clearance allowing them to submit or be provided with such requests.
There is also the possibility that Trump may lose benefits of the Former President’s Act as well, with a bill recently introduced by Democrats in the House of Representatives to strip such benefits from former President’s who have been impeached twice, clearly aimed at Trump, the bill would still allow him to keep lifetime Secret Service protection, but everything else would be stripped from him.
I personally think the above bill is a bit silly, if such a bill is to be introduced it should be for any President impeached at least once, specifically making it twice makes it just look like a childish vendetta, but that’s just my opinion. I overall don’t think any former president should receive many of these benefits after the presidency, I think Secret Service protection and burial with honours at Arlington should be some of the only benefits for Former President’s. But if you are going to introduce a bill to limit the benefits, I’d say put it down from two to just “one or more” impeachments, there is just no reason to specifically have it say “two”, it’s just too specific and singularly targeted, go all in or not at all.
So, all that above are the main privileges, as well as other possible benefits, for former Presidents of the United States who have not been removed from office. The benefits and privileges themselves are estimated to cost US taxpayers around $4 million annually.
So now we get on to the part about just what this Office of the Former President is.
The Office itself was established shortly after Trump became a Former President in Palm Beach County, Florida, along with an accompanying logo. Most clearly it is a front for the management of duties of a Former President, but it is also quite clear the Office has an aim to also further the agenda of the former Trump administration as well.
Former Presidential duties include things such as corresponding, making public statements, appearing at events, and other possible activities to further interests of the United States, for example it is not uncommon for a presidential administration to ask favours of a Former President, perhaps having them act in some kind of diplomatic capacity, or having them advance some kind of agenda of said administration in various ways, or campaigning for the administration.
The Office to carry out Trump’s agenda as well, will do it via advocacy, organization and also most obviously public activism, as has been officially announced by the Office itself.
Since Trump is permanently banned from Twitter, which was one of his main ways to reach the public, his supporter’s and the media’s ears, and also that he has been banned from Facebook and Instagram, with a possibility of being unbanned, it’s clear Trump’s Office of the Former President is going to be his most effective organ of addressing and contacting the wider public, supporters and media outlets.
Really other than the above we don’t know many more specifics on what the Office will be used for, but its general intent is very clear. It shows that Trump is not yet finished with US politics and that he intends to continue to spread Trumpism in any way he can. He is well within his right to set up an office, (even with such a name), many Former Presidents before him have done the same, and so it will remain to be seen what more it will do in the coming months and years. It is likely though we will be hearing much more from it, and that it will likely be a source of continued controversy even with Trump no longer a serving President.
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