Some Republican senators say the Trump administration’s “gold card” visa program would need Congress’ approval. So they were caught off guard by the fact that the Trump administration is already doing a “quiet trial” of the program.
White House officials have been tossing around the idea of offering U.S. residency to citizens of other countries for $5 million, which President Donald Trump said would not require any legislation from Congress. But after Wired reported last week that some immigration forms were already referencing the visas, Elon Musk confirmed that the administration intends to proceed, apparently without Congress’ approval — or knowledge.
“Did they just recently do that?” Majority Leader John Thune asked. “This is sort of, again, uncharted territory, and so we’ll evaluate it. I wasn’t aware that that was actually — I know it’s been an idea that’s been percolating out there, but I didn’t realize it was actually a thing, so we’ll have to figure that out.”
This is more than just an offhanded pitch from Trump officials. Musk posted Sunday that once the program is “fully tested,” it will be “rolled out” more broadly. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in February that the card would replace the investor visa program, or EB-5, which requires applicants to promise a $1.8 million investment and show they will create at least 10 full-time jobs in the U.S.
Some conservatives say the administration is skipping a step: getting approval from Congress. Lawmakers created the EB-5 program in 1990, and they’d need to pass new legislation that would authorize the executive branch to change eligibility requirements.
Sen. Rand Paul said he is concerned about what the administration’s continued rollout of a “gold card” could mean for the EB-5 program, which Congress made major changes to as recently as 2022.
“The gold card with no legislation — this is something I think should go before Congress,” Paul said. “I would have thought it would require legislation. I’m a big supporter of the EB-5 program, and I think the gold card program is not a bad idea. I think we should do legislation on it, and it should be in addition to the EB-5.”
David J. Bier, the director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told NOTUS that the White House unilaterally moving forward with a total overhaul of a congressionally created visa program is a “flagrantly illegal” overstep of Trump’s executive authority.
“There’s no congressional authorization for them to offer this gold card as an option to emigrate,” Bier said. “It’s a violation of the immigration laws, and a pretty blatant thumbing of the nose at Congress.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
But the digital infrastructure for the gold card visas is already there. When Lutnick boasted about already having sold 1,000 of these cards on an “All In” podcast appearance in March, he added that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team was actively building the necessary software. Wired confirmed that DOGE had registered the Trumpcard.gov domain in late March, and that U.S. visitors with foreign passports applying for the Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program, which gives expedited airport clearance to trusted travelers, are being asked if they’ve applied for the card.
If the White House is interested in overhauling the investor visa program through legislation, it doesn’t appear to be engaging with Republican senators on it so far. Like Thune, most Republicans asked by NOTUS about the new visa program said they hadn’t realized the administration was already testing the “Trump Card Visa.”
“This is the first I’ve heard about it, so whether there is a provision someplace, or a statute, that would be counter to that, I’m not aware of it yet. But I’m sure we’ll hear about it,” Sen. Mike Rounds said.
Sen. John Cornyn, chair of the Judiciary Committee’s Border Security and Immigration Subcommittee, said he thought the gold cards were “going to require some legislation to do.” And Sen. Rick Scott said “it’d be surprising if they could” fully implement the program without legislation.
“I just don’t know how they would do it statutorily,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, an immigration subcommittee member.
And, while a couple of GOP senators made sure to praise Trump’s idea, they also thought it should remain just that — an idea — until they got their say-so through legislation.
“You know, I think there are merits to the idea,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis told NOTUS. “And I think it would be a good idea to run it through Congress, yeah?”
—
Emily Kennard is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.