Congress should act to prevent the Department of Commerce from using funds collected through Trump’s Gold Card program to sidestep carefully negotiated controls on spending. CREW’s testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies proposes bill and report language to ensure that those controls are maintained. 

On September 19, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security, to establish a Gold Card visa program. Through this program, if someone makes a $1 million gift—or a corporation makes a $2 million gift on their behalf—that person generally is eligible for certain employment-based visas. 

Since the program was launched in December 2025, Trump has projected drastic increases to the balance of the Commerce gift account. And between January and February 2026, the balance in the Commerce gift account already has increased by $1 million, demonstrating the need for immediate congressional oversight on these issues. 

It is not clear how the Department of Commerce plans to use the funds, which is problematic given its wide purview over promoting foreign and domestic commerce. In addition, it is also unclear what guardrails are in place for preventing fraud or abuse, how Commerce will assess the legitimacy and lawfulness of payments from foreign sources, how it will ensure compliance with the law and agency requirements and whether it even has the capacity and willingness to conduct the needed reviews for these gift contributions. 

For these reasons, CREW’s recommended bill and report language will help ensure that Congress can conduct proper oversight of the Trump Gold Card program so that funds are used in accordance with the law and department regulations. 

Read the testimony here.

Screenshot of Trump Gold Card from trumpcard.gov

Read More in Testimony