There are laws that apply to judges and members of Congress that do not apply to the president and the vice president.

Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Sep 29, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictCan’t tell

Sources: 3 contradict3 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 35%

The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026

The sources do not directly test the claim that some laws apply to judges and members of Congress but not to the president and vice president.

What was said

… this, so that when you go to court, there's no doubt about it Okay, and then I think we also have to start thinking about, like, what kind of anti-corruption reform package could be passed one day? So that a president can't get away with this again, because the fact is, there are laws that apply to people like judges and members of Congress, but just don't apply to the president and the vice president, so I would like to see that get together. And then we have to litigate. Like, I do think Congress does have to go to court to defend its spending power and get a court to rule on these very basic issues, which are just reiterating what is in the stinking …

The Bulwark Daily · Sep 29, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Contradicts. PolitiFact's 2016 review of 18 U.S.C. § 208 says the conflict-of-interest law does not apply to the president or vice president, nor to members of Congress or federal judges, so it exempts all four groups rather than only the president and vice president.[1]

Contradicts. 50 U.S.C. § 3163 exempts the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and federal judges appointed by the President from the same subchapter, again treating them alike.[3][4]

Context. Justia's annotation of the Impeachment Clause says it covers the President, Vice President, civil officers, and judges but not members of Congress, which is an asymmetry but not the one the claim describes.[5]

Context. A 2020 Texas Law Review article says federal criminal conflict-of-interest statutes and civil regulations do not apply to the President, and that the laws do not clearly reach certain important individuals, without specifying which officials are covered.[6]

Context. The sources do not give the full coverage of the Hatch Act or the judicial-conduct rules, so they cannot confirm whether those laws apply to judges and members of Congress but not to the president.[2]