Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is trying once again to introduce legislation in the 119th U.S. Congress aimed at prohibiting members of Congress and their family members from trading or holding individual stocks.
The bill is cleverly titled the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act. It seeks to “amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to prohibit transactions involving certain financial instruments by Members of Congress,” according to the legislation’s text.
Hawley first reintroduced the PELOSI Act in January 2023, after California Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul was publicly called out for having bought up to $5 million in stock in a semiconductor company as the Senate just happened to be passing legislation to massively subsidize the semiconductor industry.
Prior to that, in 2022, he announced his intention to propose a similar measure known as the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act. According to a press release from Hawley’s office, the PELOSI Act would also “ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding, purchasing or selling individual stocks for the duration of the lawmaker’s time in office.”
Breitbart News reports that should the legislation become law, members of Congress would be given “180 days to comply with the legislation,” as detailed in the press release. Lawmakers who fail to adhere to the new requirements would be required to “forfeit any stock profits to the U.S. Department of the Treasury” and could face additional monetary penalties.
During an interview with Time magazine, former President Donald Trump was asked whether he would “support a ban on congressional stock trading.”
Trump responded, “absolutely,” adding, “Well, I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it.”
In a statement, Hawley said, “Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve—not day trading at the expense of their constituents.” He continued: “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.”
