After a decade of reticence on the issue, Congress finally passed a law banning them from trading stocks, after members made millions for years using insider information.
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday approved a congressional ban on stock trading by an 8-4 vote. The measure now heads to the Senate floor for consideration by the full chamber.
If the bill passes, members of Congress, their spouses and dependents, and the president and vice president would be prohibited from purchasing or owning stocks and other assets.
If passed, the bill would force members to liquidate their assets. One lawmaker noted that it would crush the likes of Donald Trump and prevent him from running for office.
Others within the GOP, however, believe it is necessary to root out corruption and prevent people like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi from achieving stellar results.
“No member of Congress should abuse their privilege to profit off the American people,” Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, the bill’s top Republican, told DailyMail.com exclusively in a statement.
Two of the youngest senators helped lead negotiations on the proposed stock trading ban
“For too long, politicians from both parties have prioritized their stock portfolios over serving those who voted for them.”
“We must put an end to it. This landmark achievement is a strong first step in that direction,” he said.
At 41, Hawley is one of the youngest members of the Senate.
In his quest to end stock trading, he teamed up with fellow contemporary and 37-year-old Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is leading the measure, to push for the ban.
“This is a historic moment in the effort to reform the ethics laws that govern Congress,” Ossoff said after the vote.
“Georgians overwhelmingly agree that members of Congress should not interfere in the stock market when we are making legislation and have access to confidential and privileged information,” the 37-year-old continued.
The law would be a major departure from the status quo, which only requires members to report transactions over $1,000 within 30 to 45 days.
Critics have long argued that the law — the STOCK Act, which prohibits trading with congressional knowledge — doesn’t go far enough. Moreover, the fine for violating the disclosure law, about $200 per violation, is small compared to the profits members stand to make.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul at a gala in Washington, D.C. She has been a prolific stock trader in recent years, buying or selling $100 million worth of securities since 2020, according to her federal disclosures.
Sen. Josh Hawley speaks at a news conference announcing the congressional ban on stock trading on Wednesday, flanked by Democratic co-sponsors including Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Il., Ossoff and Peters
“This is the first time a Senate committee has introduced legislation to address this issue,” committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said during the Wednesday meeting where the measure passed.
“Americans deserve to trust that their elected federal representatives will make decisions that are in the best interest of the public, not their own personal interests.”
During the hearing, the four Republicans who voted against the stock ban argued that it would discourage entrepreneurs from entering Congress. They pointed out that the bill in its current form would require these entrepreneurs to divest their stakes in their companies.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said the bill was “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” adding that it was “a solution in search of a problem,” and noting that insider trading and trading using congressional knowledge are already prohibited.
“Have you thought about Donald Trump, for example?” Romney said during Wednesday’s hearing.
“Under this law, he couldn’t run for president. He would have to sell all of his Truth Social stock. He would have to sell all of his private investments.”
Still, Hawley said there is a lot of corruption in Congress when it comes to stock trading.
“Congressmen act every day on information that the public does not have,” Hawley said during the hearing. “Congress is a rich man’s club.”
He noted that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made higher profits “than anyone in America.”
Sen. Mitt Romney said the law would prevent businessmen, like Trump, from running for office.
According to data compiled by Quiver, Pelosi’s net worth has doubled over the past decade, from $123 million in 2014 to nearly $250 million in 2024
Quiver Quantitative’s congressional trading dashboards visualize politicians’ portfolios
According to data from Quiver Quantitative, a congressional financial monitoring system, Pelosi and her husband Paul’s wealth has more than doubled over the past decade.
Their data shows that Pelosi’s net worth has doubled over the past decade, from $123 million in 2014 to nearly $250 million in 2024.
It should be noted that Paul Pelosi works in the venture capital industry and is considered responsible for any transactions his wife discloses.
Yet some critics argue that family members should also be prohibited from trading because they come into contact with congressional secrets.
According to disclosures, Pelosi has purchased at least $3.93 million worth of securities so far in 2024, much of it in the technology sector, particularly Palo Alto Networks and Forge Investments, a firm that offers investors a piece of private companies like OpenAI. Pelosi said the purchases ranged in value from $1 million to $5 million.
“By our estimates, Nancy Pelosi had the sixth highest trading volume in Congress over the past year,” Christopher Kardatzke, co-founder of Quiver Quantitative, told DailyMail.com.
“Pelosi doesn’t sit on a House technology committee, but she does represent a district in California that includes San Francisco. So the question is whether she gains any insights from her position.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has made tens of millions of dollars in profits during her time in office, according to data compiled by Quiver Quantitative.
The Pelosis at a party in Beverly Hills, California, in March 2024
Paul Pelosi, pictured here, records all transactions in his name. Since 2020, the Pelosis have transacted about $100 million in volume, both buying and selling
“The volume is just insane. It’s often millions of dollars of options trades or tens of millions of dollars of stock trades. So that’s clearly a lot of volume,” Kardatzke said. “With Pelosi, it seems much more deliberate, big, big bets on specific companies, which are largely focused on technology.”
While Pelosi doesn’t often disclose transactions, when she does, she does so, and the transactions are worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Republicans have also benefited greatly from their time in office.
For example, Romney has seen his estimated net worth increase from $178 million in 2017 to $245 million in 2024, according to Quiver Quantitative.
And a ban on stock trading by Congress is seen as popular with many voters.
A 2023 University of Maryland survey found that 86 percent of voters supported such a ban.
Now it’s up to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to introduce the bill to the full House.