Former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday demanded that the Republican National Committee (RNC) vote on a resolution that would bar the national party from paying former president Donald Trump’s legal bills.
“All Americans, and Republicans especially, deserve a vote on the record on that resolution,” Haley said while campaigning in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to NBC News. “We deserve to know how the RNC is going to spend their money and if it’s going to go towards legal fees.”
Haley’s remarks come after she trailed Trump by more than 40 points in the Michigan GOP primary, just days after a 20-point loss in the South Carolina primary. Michigan will host a nominating convention on Saturday to award the state’s remaining Republican delegates.
The legal-bill resolution, recently introduced by Mississippi committee member Henry Barbour, aims to prevent the RNC from paying any legal fees belonging to Trump and other federal or state candidates.
“The Republican National Committee will not pay the legal bills of any of our candidates for any federal or state office, but will focus our spending on efforts directly related to the 2024 election cycle,” the draft resolution states.
Barbour proposed a similar resolution designed to prohibit the RNC from coordinating with Trump or fundraising with his campaign until he wins enough delegates to become the party’s nominee.
“The Republican National Committee and its leadership will stay neutral throughout the Presidential primary and not take on additional staff from any of the active Presidential campaigns until a nominee is clearly determined by reaching 1,215 delegates,” the resolution states.
RNC members will potentially hold votes on these resolutions on March 8 in Houston, Texas, where they are expected to select a new chair following Ronna McDaniel’s announcement of her resignation.
On Monday, McDaniel said she would step down as RNC chairwoman. She served in that post since 2017. Calls for her resignation have grown in recent weeks after Trump endorsed North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley to lead the RNC alongside Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and campaign advisor, Chris LaCivita.
LaCivita, whom the former president endorsed to become the national Republican Party’s COO, previously said the RNC wouldn’t pay for Trump’s numerous court cases under his leadership. Haley, however, has not trusted the promise.
During a Tuesday appearance on CNN, the second-place Republican presidential candidate called the RNC a “legal slush fund” for Trump and said it’s no longer concerned about “winning races up and down the ticket.”