Hi,

After months of eagerly waiting for Democrats’ proposal to ban Congressional stock trading, key negotiators say the final proposal released last week was designed to fail.1

Members of Congress have a financial incentive to continue trading stocks and profiting off the insider information they’re privy to as public servants. We need to make sure our representatives feel the pressure: we demand that leadership introduces, and Congress passes, legislation forcing Members to completely divest from stock ownership while in office!

Sign the petition: Speaker Pelosi must bring robust legislation to ban Congressional stock trading to the floor immediately! To ensure an ethical Congress, Members, their spouses, and their top aides must divest ownership of all individual stocks while in office.

One reason Democrats’ proposal was dead on arrival is that it fails to ensure Members fully divest from their stocks. Instead, it allows Members to place their assets in ‘qualified blind trusts’ — a non-starter for many Members who recognize the trusts would create a loophole. In the words of one Democratic staffer involved in the negotiations, qualified blind trusts are “kind of fake.”2

The public is still waiting on an adequate proposal to end corruption in Congress. Meanwhile, Members continue to profit at the public’s expense. Congress should be focused on making decisions that serve the public interest — not their personal stock portfolios. 

It’s no secret that Members of Congress make savvy stockbrokers. TikTok users watch Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading disclosures to mimic her trades.3 Right now, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is considering the approval of two stock indexes that would let consumers mirror the stock holdings of senior Members of Congress.4

The proposed names? KRUZ and NANC, for Ted Cruz and Nancy Pelosi.

The current laws governing Congressional stock trading are too weak – and are rarely enforced. That’s why we need a ban on Members of Congress owning and trading all individual stocks while in office.

Members have an incentive to make the policy as weak as possible — but they’re vulnerable to grassroots pressure. We must be clear: the Congressional stock trading ban must require Members, their spouses, and their top aides to divest ALL ownership of individual stocks while in office!

Sign the petition: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must bring legislation requiring Members of Congress to divest from individual stock ownership while in office to the floor immediately! 

Thanks for taking action,

Izzi and the team at Demand Progress

Sources: 

  1. The Intercept, “House Democratic Leadership Designed Stock Trade Ban to Fail, Negotiators Say,” September 30, 2022.
  2. Ibid. 
  3. NPR, “TikTokers Are Trading Stocks By Copying What Members Of Congress Do,” September 21, 2021.
  4. CityWire, “Capitol allocation! New ETFs target lawmakers' stock picks,” September 19, 2022.

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