RNC resolution to ban paying Trump’s legal bills is ‘dead’

The Republican National Committee (RNC) failed to earn enough support from states to bring a resolution to ban paying former President Trump’s legal bills to a vote.

Henry Barbour, who serves as Mississippi’s national committeeman, confirmed to several news outlets that the resolutions he drafted that would have prohibited the committee from covering the former president’s growing legal bills is dead.

The RNC is meeting Friday in Houston to elect a new chair after former Chair Ronna McDaniel announced she would resign on March 8.

Barbour confirmed to Politico that the resolution is “dead” and won’t be voted on during Friday’s meeting because he only received co-sponsors from eight out of 10 required states to bring the resolution to a vote.

Trump has already endorsed his preferred replacement for McDaniel’s former seat, RNC general counsel Michael Whatley. He also endorsed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to serve as the next co-chair.

Lara Trump previously said she would spend “every single penny” of RNC funds to reelect her father-in-law to the White House.

Republican critics say the move is Trump’s attempt to streamline the RNC with his campaign, prompting the major question of whether the party will pay his legal bills. Trump currently faces 91 felony charges across four separate investigations, and he was recently ordered to pay more than $355 million in a civil fraud case in New York.

Trump’s campaign advisers have said he won’t ask the RNC for help with his legal bills, but according to federal election filings posted in January, the former president’s fundraising committees spent nearly $30 million on legal fees in the second half of 2023. The Hill has reached out to the RNC for further comment.