Group of House Lawmakers Urge Pelosi to Make Stock Trading Ban for Members of Congress a Priority

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Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:53 pm

A group of House lawmakers led by Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine) has urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to make a bill banning stock trading among members of Congress a priority.

The Ban Conflicted Trading Act would prohibit members of Congress and their immediate family members from trading stocks. Meanwhile, the TRUST in Congress Act would prohibit stock trading by lawmakers and their senior staffers.

“There is no reason that members of Congress need to be allowed to trade stocks when we should be focused on doing our jobs and serving our constituents,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) “Perhaps this means some of our colleagues will miss out on lucrative investment opportunities. We don’t care. We came to Congress to serve our country, not turn a quick buck.”

“We understand that multiple bipartisan bills to ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks have been introduced in the House. However, handwringing over which bill to advance should be no excuse for stalling a House floor vote on this issue,” they added.

You can read the letter HERE.

Pelosi has expressed her support for changing the rules.

“I just don’t buy into it, but if members want to do that I’m okay with that. I have great confidence in the integrity of my members,” she said at her weekly press conference.

Pelosi has asked the House Administration Committee to review the STOCK Act, legislation that requires lawmakers to report all trades and file reports within 45 days. She is also open to raising fines for members of Congress who fail to meet these deadlines.

Interestingly, former President Donald Trump demanded that Pelosi be banned from stock trading, telling Breitbart News that it is “not appropriate.” Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, owns and operates Financial Leasing Services, Inc., a San Francisco-based real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm.