President Donald Trump said he would “absolutely” sign a bill banning congressional stock trading, saying he was concerned lawmakers could be using insider information for an advantage.
“I would be okay with it,” Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine that published Friday. “If they send that to me, I would do it.”
There has long been some bipartisan support for legislation that would limit how members of Congress could buy and sell stocks, as their access to classified intelligence and internal knowledge about the progress of lawmaking offers a leg up on others in the market. In 2020, a bipartisan group of senators drew fire for trading health care stocks after closed-door briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.
The president specifically criticized former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who resisted legislative efforts to ban stock trading by members of Congress and their families during her time leading the chamber. Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, made his fortune in real estate and venture capital in the San Francisco area, and critics have routinely highlighted instances where the couple’s had successful trades.
Democrats have directed similar questions toward Trump and his allies in the aftermath of his decision to announce and then largely pause his sweeping “reciprocal” tariff program earlier this month. Trump posted on social media that it was a “great time to buy” hours before announcing his reprieve, which prompted a massive market rally.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat who succeeded Pelosi, has said he supports a ban on lawmakers trading individual stocks, though there does not appear to be particular momentum around a bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not said he would pursue a trading ban.
Federal law already prohibits members of Congress from acting on insider information, and the 2012 STOCK Act requires members to report their stock trades within 30 days. Still, that legislation only calls for a $200 fine if lawmakers fail to disclose a transaction.
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