Stop Stock Trading in Congress

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From the Desk of Trevor Potter

Dear John,
This ought to be common sense, but unfortunately, today it needs to be said: there should be a clear separation between the personal finances of members of Congress and their roles as public officeholders. However, with talks of another federal pandemic stimulus package ([link removed]) coming, the fact that members of Congress are trading on their own investment accounts while in possession of confidential information — and making decisions about the spending of hundreds of billions of public funds — is of high concern, and something should be corrected.

Representatives and senators are currently allowed under Congressional ethics rules to buy and sell stock for their personal portfolios, while simultaneously picking winners and losers in the market as they craft economic stimulus packages.

In fact, they’ve already done it during the pandemic. In April, the ethics team here at Campaign Legal Center reviewed financial disclosure reports ([link removed]) between Feb. 2, 2020 and April 8, 2020 of congressional stock transactions. They found that as COVID-19 cases began to increase throughout the country in the weeks before the first three rounds of legislative relief packages, senators and representatives from both sides of the aisle traded securities — many in industries directly affected by the pandemic and the resulting stimulus packages.

During this time, senators and representatives filed reports of their purchases and sales of securities, which disclose only estimates of the value of the transactions. In the Senate, 12 senators made a total of at least 227 transactions with an estimated maximum value of $98.3 million. In the House, 37 members made at least 1,358 transactions with an estimated maximum value of $60.5 million. Certain members of Congress appeared to make strategic purchases in remote work technologies, telemedicine companies and car manufacturers that were shifting their production to ventilators. Members also dropped stock in restaurant and hospitality companies, which were expected to be hard-hit.

If clear and explicit insider trading happens, that’s a crime. Members of Congress, like anybody else in a similar position, shouldn’t be trading on knowledge that isn’t available to the public. The U.S Department of Justice has been investigating ([link removed]) some potential insider trading activity.

But even if circumstances aren’t as clear-cut, such buying and selling by public officeholders who are simultaneously deciding on specific economic winners and losers is still cause for concern. The public does not know what goes into a member’s decision to buy or sell personal stock, creating the perception that members are trying to make money for themselves, rather than acting in the interest of those who elected them.

With public trust in Washington at historic lows ([link removed]) , Congress should be taking action to address this. Candidates of both parties ran against the “Washington swamp” in 2016, calling it “corrupt” and worse. And the repeated ethics violations of senior Trump administration officials have only worsened the public impression of what goes on in Washington.

Addressing congressional stock trading, especially at a time of national crisis, is a necessary step to rebuilding trust in government.

CLC has endorsed new legislation ([link removed]) that would tackle this problem and increase government accountability and transparency. The Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act would require members of Congress — as well as their spouses and dependent children — to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress. In other words, no stock transactions.

The TRUST in Congress Act, introduced by U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia, and Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, would prevent U.S. representatives and senators from using their positions to inform investment decisions or influence the value of their existing investments.

With COVID-19 still causing tremendous economic hardship, Americans should not have to worry that their elected representatives will be more concerned about their own pocketbooks than the well-being of the American people. Congress should act immediately to ensure the next stimulus package isn’t harmed by allegations of conflicts of interest.

Sincerely,

Trevor Potter
President, Campaign Legal Center
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