Pelosi shifts stance on banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks

“We’re a free-market economy,” Pelosi told reporters then. “They should be able to participate in that.”

Asked Wednesday about legislation to ban lawmakers from trading stocks, which has gained traction in recent weeks, Pelosi sounded more amenable — albeit far from throwing her full support behind it — noting that the Committee on House Administration is reviewing options members had submitted.

“I do believe in the integrity of people in public service. I want the public to have that understanding,” Pelosi said. “We have to do this to deter something that we see as a problem. … And if that’s what the members want to do, then that’s what we will do.”

Pelosi also said she wanted to see fines tightened for violating the Stock Act, which requires members of Congress to report any stock trades they make within a certain time period. And she suggested that any ban on individual stock trades for lawmakers should be applied “government-wide.”

“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. “Our members have been saying this for years: Why does the Supreme Court of the United States have no disclosure, financial disclosure? … In the executive branch, when they divest of their stock, they don’t pay capital gains. So that’s an interesting feature.

“But it’s complicated, and members will figure it out, and then we’ll go forward with what the consensus is,” Pelosi concluded.

Ironically, Pelosi’s initial rejection of a possible ban gave momentum to the legislation, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) who co-sponsored a bill with Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) last year that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks.

“The news of the speaker’s comments blew the lid off the issue,” Roy said last month.

A recent Business Insider investigation found that, since 2020, 49 members of Congress and 182 staffers have violated the Stock Act by not reporting their trades in a timely fashion, with minimal or no consequences.

Last month, Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) introduced a bill similar to that of Spanberger and Roy. Their legislation would require members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children to place their stocks in a blind trust while the member is in office — intended to prevent insider trading, or the appearance of it, given that lawmakers can have access to privileged information.

“People across this country need to have complete confidence that when members of Congress are making decision that those decisions are based on what those members believe is best for the public and not what’s best for them financially,” Warren said on MSNBC’s “Stephanie Ruhle Reports” on Wednesday.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a competing proposal in January, which proponents of a ban have taken as more evidence of bipartisan support. Both House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) have said they would support such a ban.

“There are a number of senators with various proposals, and I have asked my Democratic colleagues to come together and come up with a single bill this chamber can work on,” Schumer said Wednesday. “Some of the proposals … have bipartisan support. So this is something that the Senate should address. Hopefully we can act on it soon, and hopefully it can be done in a bipartisan way like many of the bills we are looking at this week.”

Meagan Flynn contributed to this report.