Mike Johnson Says Trump Accepting Qatari Luxury Plane as a Gift Is ‘Not My Lane’ – Despite It Being a Congressional Power

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) straight up told reporters on Wednesday during a Capitol Hill press conference that the “it’s not my lane” to decide whether or not President Donald Trump can or should keep a luxury jet gifted to him by Qatar – despite the Constitution expliciting empowering Congress to make such decisions.

“If the President were to accept an airplane from the Qatari government, should Congress have approval over that kind of thing?” asked a reporter.

“Look, I’ve been a little busy on reconciliation, so I’m not following all the twists and turns of the Qatar jet, I certainly heard about it. My understanding is it’s not a personal gift to the president, it’s a gift to the United States, and other nations give us gifts all the time, but I’m going to leave it to the administration,” Johnson replied, adding:

They know much more about the details of that, okay? It’s not my lane.

Notably, the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause bans officeholders from accepting gifts from any “king, prince, or foreign state” without the explicit approval of Congress. Congress later passed the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966, which further sets out rules for federal employees receiving gifts.

Trump’s DOJ has made the case that Trump can accept the plane as it was publicly announced and offered without any explicit conditions — arguing, therefore, it was not a bribe. However, under U.S. law, federal employees can only accept gifts under $480 unless they pay the full market value of the gift in order to keep it. Most gifts given to presidents are transferred to the National Archives as property of the “people of the United States” and eventually end up in a presidential library, which is what Trump is claiming will happen to the plane.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.