(UnitedVoice.com) – Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband has made millions of dollars on the stock market. So have many other family members of public officials. That’s led to a years-long battle to prohibit lawmakers and their families from trading.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers just once again raised the issue of lawmakers and their family members trading stocks. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Gary Peters (D-MI) recently outlined a new version of the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act.
Merkley spoke to NPR about the proposal. It would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from trading. The Democratic senator explained that when people send representatives to Congress, those lawmakers should not be serving their portfolios, they should be serving their constituents. Merkley also pointed out this isn’t a controversial position, most Americans agree that lawmakers shouldn’t be trading stocks while they’re in office.
Members of Congress have insider information about nearly every issue impacting the country’s economy. Although it’s illegal for lawmakers to use insider information to trade, critics have argued that it’s unavoidable unless there is a complete prohibition.
In 2022, Paul Pelosi‘s trades came under scrutiny. Fox Business reported that he invested over $1 million in a computer chip company just weeks before Congress voted on a bill to provide the industry with tax subsidies. Nancy Pelosi has denied that her husband ever purchased stocks based on information she gave him. Last year, media organizations identified 78 lawmakers who allegedly violated the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.
Efforts to change the current law have failed to gain enough support over the last few years. However, that hasn’t stopped the latest group of lawmakers from continuing to try.
Peters is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and he has pledged they will take up the bill later this month.
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