Pelosi caves in, joins Congress in banning members from trading stocks

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given green light to a legislation that would ban members of the US Congress from trading stocks, a report said on Wednesday.

The California legislator and a senior Democrat, who has on several occasions in the past rejected the idea, is now working with other Democratic leaders on pushing it, according to Punchbowl News.

The US House administration committee is currently working on drafting the rules, and the legislation is likely to be put to vote before the November midterm elections.

The committee chairman Senator Zoe Lofgren has reportedly been tasked to come up with ways on enacting the stock trading ban.

Many versions of a stock trading ban are under consideration in the US Senate, including the one co-authored by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Montana Senator Steve Daines.

According to a report in Daily Mail, House Democrats are possibly looking at amending the STOCK Act, which makes it illegal for lawmakers to use non-public information for private profit and requires them to publicly disclose stock and bond transactions within 45 days.

The law will be updated to prevent lawmakers from trading individuals stocks.

Punchbowl News: Speaker Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are working on a ban on members of Congress and senior staff trading stocks. @PunchbowlNews

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 9, 2022

A Business Insider report last year said a total of 49 legislators and 182 Congressional staffers had violated the STOCK Act by reporting their trades late from January to September 2021.

The report in Punchbowl suggests that changes to the ‘ethics in government act’ – the post-Watergate scandal law for the obligatory public disclosure of financial records and employment history for public officials and their families – are also being considered.

“When you’re elected, you’re here to serve the people, not the elite, and [a stock trading ban] I think is a step forward, an important step forward, to restore the faith and trust of the American people in this institution,” Daines was quoted as saying by CNBC on Wednesday.

.@SpeakerPelosi says reviewing bills to ban Members from trading stocks. She said she wants to "tighten the fines" on STOCK Act for violations those who dont disclose,extend reforms to Judiciary.
But on fines: IF Congress bans individual trades need to disclose trades goes away

— Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrekwalsh) February 9, 2022

There is still no clarity on what types of investments would be banned, what members would be asked to do to comply with the new law, and whether their family members would also face prohibitions.

However, Pelosi’s support for a stock trading ban in the House is seen as a shift in her position, considering the fact that her husband is known to rake in millions on the stock exchange.

After she told reporters on December 15 that 'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' her husband reportedly bought shares worth between $500,001 and $1 million in Alphabet -- Google's parent company.

A recent survey conducted by the Convention of States Action found that 76% of voters believed that lawmakers and their spouses had an “unfair advantage” in the stock market.

The call to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks has gathered momentum recently, finding support from a wide range of House lawmakers such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, to pro-Trump Rep. Matt Gaetz, and even recently House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

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