House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says he's "open to the conversation" about banning stock trades by sitting congressional members, NPR reported.
"It's been talked about for quite some time. But there's probably a reason that the bill hasn't moved in all those years because there's never been a consensus built around it," Johnson told NPR in a story published Tuesday. "But, I mean, I'm open to the conversation."
Members of Congress are allowed to trade stocks, provided they are reported within 30 days under the 2012 Stock Act.
Consensus is building in the House and Senate, however, to ban trades altogether by members of Congress.
More than 40 lawmakers in January co-introduced the bipartisan TRUST Act, the House version of a bill that would ban members of Congress and family members from trading individual stocks.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., reintroduced a bill more recently that would ban members of Congress from trading or holding individual stocks: the Pelosi Act.
"Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve — not day trading at the expense of their constituents," Hawley wrote in a statement.
"Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public. It's time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans' trust in our nation's legislative body."
The bill is named after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., because her husband has drawn scrutiny for making millions in suspected insider trading.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., told NPR that there's a "surge of momentum" to ban congressional trading, "and now we need to capitalize on it."
"This is going to happen at some point, like the public supports it in polling by a 90 to 10 margin," he says. "It's one of the highest polling issues I have ever seen."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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