House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she directed the House Administration Committee to examine various proposals to ban members of Congress and top Hill aides from trading individual stocks, bending to growing bipartisan pressure on the issue after previously dismissing concerns about individuals trading stocks.
But she stopped short of throwing her full-fledged support behind stock trading bans, did not specify whether she would support a ban on members’ spouses trading stocks, and said that any such bill should include new disclosure requirements on federal judges and the Supreme Court.
Still, it is an evolution from Pelosi saying in December that members “should be able to participate in” the “free market economy,” as her husband Paul Pelosi’s millions in stock trades sparked ethics concerns.
STOCK TRADING BAN PROPOSALS PRESSURE PELOSI, BUT NOT ALL HOUSE REPUBLICANS ON BOARD
A number of members of Congress have introduced various pieces of legislation to ban members from trading stocks. Most recently, Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday revealed a bill to do so.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday came out in support of a stock trading ban, saying, “I believe in it” and would like to see members come up with one bill. "I would like to see it done."
But in a press conference on Wednesday, Pelosi said that she would like to see any proposal that comes out of the committee have certain criteria.
“We have to tighten the fines for those who violate the STOCK Act,” Pelosi said, calling it “not sufficient to deter behavior” in its current form.
Secondly, “It has to be government-wide.”
“The court system — the third branch of government, the judiciary — has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day,” Pelosi said.
She added that when members of the executive branch divest from stocks, they do not have to pay capital gains tax.
“I do believe in the integrity of people in public service, I want the public to have that understanding. We have to do this to deter something that we see as a problem,” Pelosi said. “But it is a confidence issue, and if that’s what the members want to do, then that’s what we will do.”
Interest in a stock trading ban for members picked up after a Business Insider investigation last year asserted that dozens of members had recently failed to meet those requirements and that members have been trading stocks in industries where they have oversight responsibilities.
Republican congressional leaders are also open to banning members from trading individual stocks.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is looking at possible legislative solutions to address conflict of interest in members trading stocks and ensure that members do not get special treatment, according to a source close to McCarthy’s thinking.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday that while he hasn’t thought deeply about banning members from trading stocks, he will take a look at proposed legislation. He added that he has all his assets in mutual funds and advises that other members do the same.