Good! Bipartisan Lawmakers Float Stock Trading Bans For Members Of Congress
Someone tell Nancy Pelosi her gravy train could be coming to an end.
That's because two politicians, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) are looking at ways to limit or ban members of Congress from holding and trading stocks.
On Wednesday, Ossoff announced that he's introduced legislation to ban members of Congress (and their spouses) from trading stocks.
"Members of Congress should not be playing the stock market while we make federal policy and have extraordinary access to confidential information," said Ossoff, whose bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
Tonight I introduced legislation to ban Members of Congress (and our spouses) from trading stocks.
3/4 of Americans agree!
— Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) January 13, 2022
McCarthy's proposal, meanwhile, could even draw bipartisan support, a report by the Washington Examiner says, as stock trading by members of Congress has come under fire by both sides of the aisle.
McCarthy said this week that the bill is in its early stages and that he "hasn't decided" what type of limitations it would include.
Recall, back in December, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the idea of a stock trading ban. Two months prior to December, Pelosi was crowing about how capitalism had "not served us well" and "needs improving". When the idea of a stock trading ban was brought up, she all of a sudden became a bold advocate for free market economics.
"We are a free-market economy. They should be able to participate in that," Pelosi said of the idea of barring members of Congress from trading individual stocks while in office.
"If people aren't reporting, they should be," Pelosi responded to Insider, who asked for comment after 49 members of Congress and 182 staffers had violated the STOCK Act that prevents insider trading.
This stance put Pelosi immediately at odds with both Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have spoken out against members of Congress trading individual stocks.
"It is absolutely ludicrous that members of Congress can hold and trade individual stock while in office," AOC said last year, via Twitter. "The access and influence we have should be exercised for the public interest, not our profit. It shouldn't be legal for us to trade individual stock with the info we have."
