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Could a stock trading ban for Congress get new life in the Trump era?
RollCall.com ^ | January 15, 2025 at 6:45pm | Justin Papp

Posted on 01/16/2025 12:54:36 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

Some advocates hope he could be the X factor, after previous attempts have fallen short

Rep. Zach Nunn’s military background tells him that success in any given mission requires an understanding of the battle-space — and in the fight to ban congressional stock trading, it will always “be stacked against” those urging change, the Iowa Republican and Air Force Reserve colonel said. 

Members of Congress who trade stocks may not be eager to stop, but with Donald Trump coming back to the White House, Nunn hopes momentum could shift.

“We are now working on building a bipartisan coalition of members. But this is also something the president wants,” he said, after introducing his own proposal last week alongside Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash. “And that has been, I think, the difference here. We now have an administration which is very focused on getting transparency and accountability.”

It’s a rosy take on an issue that has withered repeatedly in Congress, even as polling shows it has overwhelming public support. The call to ban members from trading or owning individual stocks — and to address the perception of insider trading — has grown louder since the COVID-19 pandemic, when lawmakers made a series of dubious trades that prompted a federal investigation.

A bipartisan agreement advanced out of a Senate committee last July, but it didn’t get tacked on to any year-end package and never got a vote on the floor. In the 117th Congress, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pledged to bring legislation on the topic to the House floor for a vote, then reneged

This time around, could Trump be the X factor?


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: ban; congress; investment; stock

1 posted on 01/16/2025 12:54:36 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I’d live it just because Sleepy Joe could have done the same thing but never really tried.


2 posted on 01/16/2025 12:55:33 PM PST by 3RIVRS
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

They will just use proxies


3 posted on 01/16/2025 1:00:30 PM PST by goodnesswins (Don’t be REALITY PHOBIC!)
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To: goodnesswins

There will then be no need for term limits. Heh heh.


4 posted on 01/16/2025 1:48:25 PM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: goodnesswins

With the president, their money is managed by a trust with no input from them. My understanding is the transactions are audited.


5 posted on 01/16/2025 1:57:59 PM PST by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

If they do that I’ll bet Queen Nazi Pelosi resigns the next day


6 posted on 01/16/2025 2:13:30 PM PST by antidemoncrat ( )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I hope so!

No one should be unduely enriched because they have earned the vote and placed in a position of power.

While they call it “serving.”


7 posted on 01/16/2025 2:19:30 PM PST by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The executive has no power over what the legislative does.

Trump can say whatever he wants. If the members of Congress like making money trading stocks, they will continue to do it.


8 posted on 01/16/2025 2:29:40 PM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: Vermont Lt
The executive has no power over what the legislative does.

Public pressure got them to pass stock trading limitations a few years ago, then they repealed it in the middle of the night when nobody was looking.

https://campaignlegal.org/update/stock-act-failed-effort-stop-insider-trading-congress

9 posted on 01/16/2025 2:37:21 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I have seen many politicians added to the Boards of Directors of “Corporations” that were little more than fraudulent scams to defraud the public.

The changes in the law need to include being placed on boards of directors, being given stock options and being allowed to buy and sell stocks with insider information.


10 posted on 01/16/2025 3:14:32 PM PST by Robert357
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The congress is the only entity with the power to take money out of their own pockets. Can you see them doing that? I can’t.

The pressure doesn’t matter. It’s a small club. You only need 218 votes to control it.


11 posted on 01/16/2025 3:23:13 PM PST by Vermont Lt
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