Biden takes swipe at Nancy Pelosi with call for congressional stock trading ban

President Joe Biden took a thinly veiled swipe at Nancy Pelosi when he backed a congressional stock trading ban.

Biden waded into the controversial issue despite staying out of it in the past, leaving it to lawmakers to set their own rules.

But in a new statement, he said, “No one in Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they are in Congress.”

The surprising comment arrived interview with Faiz Shakir, a political advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Pelosi played a crucial role in the Democratic effort to get Biden to step back from his behind-the-scenes re-election campaign this summer. That resulted in his shocking decision to withdraw from the race, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris, who ultimately lost to Donald Trump by a landslide.

Pelosi, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, is currently in a German hospital following hip replacement surgery following a fall during a congressional trip to Luxembourg.

One of the most prominent lawmakers to profit from the stock trading is Pelosi, whose husband Paul Pelosi is a wealthy investor.

She achieved a 65% return in 2023. She traded almost $4 million in stocks this year, with an estimated net worth of $250 million.

The comments on the president’s about-face were published by A More Perfect Union, a pro-labor advocacy and journalism organization. The Associated Press reviewed video of the interview before it was released.

In the interview, Shakir told Biden that he could have been an early investor in Google, Boeing, Microsoft and other companies.

“You didn’t have – correct me if I’m wrong – shares,” he said. That drew a predictable response from Biden, who often speaks of his relatively modest lifestyle when he commuted to Delaware during those years.

Biden said, “Look, for 36 years I was listed as the poorest man in the Senate – no joke.

“I don’t know how you look your constituents in the eye because the job they gave you gave you an inside track to making more money. I think we need to change the law – we need to – that we abide by at the federal level.”

It is unclear what impact Biden’s statement could have, coming just a month before his term ends.

While Biden did not mention any lawmakers by name, it is an area that has led to bipartisan reform.

A bipartisan proposal to ban trafficking by members of Congress and their families has dozens of sponsors but has not received a vote.

Pelosi infuriated some members of her own caucus when she failed to adopt their sweeping reform proposals for an existing equity law.

Biden often talks about his relatively low net worth when he was in Congress, although he has done so since amassed approximately $10 million tonsthrough investments, real estate holdings and his $400,000 presidential salary.

The Democratic president spoke with Shakir about his economic legacy, including supporting unions, investing in clean energy projects and signing up for infrastructure.

But Shakir also asked about the stock trading in Congress, which has been a catalyst for populist anger against Washington.

For example, as the coronavirus pandemic approached, some lawmakers bought and sold millions of dollars worth of stocks after learning about the virus.

Although lawmakers are required to disclose stock transactions over $1,000, they are routinely late in filing notices and sometimes don’t file them at all.

Shakir said he admired Biden for “not joining Google, and Boeing, and Microsoft, and Nvidia, and, you know, Amazon” early when he was a U.S. senator from Delaware, a position he held for 36 years.

Biden said he was living off his senator’s salary instead of playing the stock market.

Biden had previously declined to take a position on Congress’ stock dealings.

When Jen Psaki was White House press secretary two years ago, she said Biden would let “members of leadership in Congress and members of Congress determine what the rules should be.”