Earlier this month, I led a bipartisan coalition of my colleagues in calling upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other key Congressional leaders to hold a vote by the end of the month on legislation to ban Members of Congress from trading individual stocks. Through their work, Members of Congress have access to nonpublic information on issues such as pending investigations, upcoming legislation, and major global events that could have major implications for the future value of stocks. This presents an inherent conflict of interest that could allow Members to illegally profit from their public office through insider trading, and the only way to eliminate even the possibility of such activities is by barring Members of Congress from buying and selling individual stocks.
I’m proud to have been a leading voice on this issue since 2020 because we need to ensure that Congress is acting on behalf of the public interest, not private stock portfolios. That’s why I authored the bipartisan Ban Conflicted Trading Act to ban the practice, and why I’ve brought together a coalition of my colleagues from both parties who’ve supported similar legislation in the past. While negotiations with House and Senate leadership are ongoing, I’m hopeful that we can bring effective reform legislation to a vote to help raise the standard for ethics and accountability in Congress.