Trump’s Pause In Enforcement Of Foreign Corruption Practices Act Panned By Ethics Experts

President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on the Department of Justice to pause a law that prohibits U.S. companies and foreign firms from bribing foreign government officials for business favors. Trump claimed that the five-decade-old regulation set by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) limits American competitiveness in the global market.

The White House requests a review of the order, an official told CNBC, “A pause in enforcement to better understand how to streamline the FCPA to make sure it’s in line with economic interests and national security.”

“It sounds good, but it hurts the country,” Trump said as he signed the order. “Many, many deals are unable to be made because nobody wants to do business because they don’t want to feel like every time they pick up the phone, they’re going to jail. It’s going to mean a lot more business for America.”

Since its implementation in 1977, the FCPA has become a foundational principle for overseeing business operations. The order has drawn criticism from anti-corruption advocates.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) said that the new order “puts America on the side of ‘routine’ corrupt business practices all over the world.” He also took aim at tech CEO Elon Musk, who Trump has tasked with running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash federal government spending and regulations.

“The Trump-Musk Administration is making bribery and corruption perfectly legal again,” Raskin wrote in a statement. “The prices of eggs and other groceries, housing and rent and electricity continue to soar, but it just became a lot cheaper to engage in political corruption.”

The DOJ in 2024 announced enforcement actions in 24 cases related to alleged violations of the FCPA. The law was used by the DOJ to win settlements totaling more than $1.5 billion from companies whose customers include Tesla. Musk’s name did not appear on the complete list of FCPA enforcement actions.