Trump's call for Congress stock ban draws bipartisan support - Spectrum News

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s apparent backing of efforts to ban members of Congress from purchasing stocks is receiving support from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill, as numerous pieces of legislation on the matter still await significant action.

“As we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market, let's also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,” Trump said during Tuesday night's State of the Union address after touting the strength of the stock market.

He went on to implore members of Congress to "pass the Stop Insider Trading act without delay.”

The lines were met with applause and standing ovations from lawmakers in the chamber. One shot showed Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts standing and clapping.

It marked one of just a few moments in an at times rowdy address — in which Trump criticized Democrats and some of those in the party shouted at him — that received bipartisan support.

“Well, Donald Trump has said one thing so far that is true: We need to ban stock trading in Congress,” Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who has been in a high-profile feud with the Trump administration recently, wrote on X during the president’s speech. “I’ve been fighting for years to get it done. Just need Republicans to put it up for a vote.”

The issue of whether members of Congress should be able to trade stocks — a topic Trump has expressed mixed signals on regarding his stance since returning to office — has lingered on Capitol Hill for years, particularly picking up attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when lawmakers sold financial holdings at a time in which they were receiving briefings on the virus.

Despite a flurry of new legislation on the issue introduced during this session of Congress, the effort has yet to meaningfully advance, and several of those behind stock trading bills or who support them lauded Trump’s call to pass one Tuesday night.

“So proud to hear two of my bills discussed by @realDonaldTrump in his inspirational State of the Union speech!” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas., wrote in a post on X. “ SAVE America Act & Banning Congressional stock trading! America is back! Let’s go!”

Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., posted a clip of Trump calling for the ban and declared that a “majority of us agree, ban congressional stock trading!”

“Even @POTUS looked surprised when most of us stood,” Cammack added. “No more lawmakers playing Wall Street while writing the rules. Public service is not a side hustle.”

In his pledged support for the effort, Trump appeared to be specifically referencing the legislation introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., last month that bears the name mentioned by the president: the Stop Insider Trading Act.

The bill, which has more than 90 cosponsors, would bar members of Congress, their spouses and any dependent children from purchasing individual stocks and add a seven-day notice requirement to make a sale. But it does not go as far as some of the other legislation introduced this term, such as the one proposed by Roy and another by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., that seeks to prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and dependents from owning or trading stocks altogether. Steil’s would allow sitting lawmakers to hold the stocks they already own and has drawn criticism from some Democrats and those pushing for harsher restrictions.

Current law already places certain reporting requirements on members of Congress on purchases of stocks, bonds and more when the transaction is more than $1,000, but some lawmakers have long called for stricter rules.

Other Republicans, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, are attempting to bypass House GOP leadership to force a vote on a stricter ban through a method known as a discharge petition. But the effort has thus far not received enough support in the lower chamber to move forward.

In the Senate, meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida teamed up to introduce a bill the would bar members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependent children, from owning, buying and selling individual stocks and some other financial assets.

That came after a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., cleared a key hurdle to moving forward this summer when it passed the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee but swiftly drew the ire of Trump.

“I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the 'whims' of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social at the time regarding the bill.

Hawley’s legislation would mmediately block members of Congress from purchasing stocks and selling them for 90 days and require them to divest certain investments starting in their next term. But unlike other bills on the Hill, it would also apply to the president and vice president.

At the time, Hawley said he believed the president’s criticism could have stemmed from an incorrect interpretation that Trump would be covered by the bill and have to sell assets such as his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago. The requirement for officials to divest at the beginning of their next term in office means Trump, who is already in his second stint in the White House and term-limited — would theoretically not be impacted by this portion.

During his call Tuesday for lawmakers to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act, the president apepared remarked that he couldn’t Democratic lawmakers in the chamber were standing in support of it. He specifically asked if former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California joined in doing so before quipping, “Doubt it.”

Pelosi has long been the subject of Republicans’ wrath on the issue due to her husband’s husband’s lucrative stock trading. But the former speaker has said she would support a ban.

In an appearance on CNN after the speech, Pelosi said she did stand during this portion of Trump’s remarks.

“He said, ‘Did Nancy stand up?’ Yeah, I did, too,” Pelosi said. “A lot of Democrats stood up.”

She went on to suggest that the effort is picking up support and brushed off Trump naming her, arguing instead that she is focused on him "destroying" democracy.