What more is it going to take before Congress realizes that the scandals of congressional insider trading are not going away. The public overwhelmingly wants Congress to stop playing on the stock market. President Trump has declared that he would “absolutely” sign into law a ban on congressional stock trading. Who, then, is causing the delay?
As long as members of Congress and their spouses continue to wheel and deal in the stock market, the window of opportunity for self-dealing and corruption will raise questions whether these trades are being influenced by inside information about pending federal contracts or new economic policies that could affect the market.
From their committee perches overseeing federal regulation of business interests, members of Congress frequently may find themselves in a position of knowing non-public information that could affect the stock market. The window of opportunity — whether acted upon or not — is ripe for whispers and allegations. The scandals are not likely to subside.
Waves of congressional insider trading scandals have kept washing onto the political terrain since a 2009 report found that U.S. senators beat the stock market by an average of 12 percent per year in the 1990s. It rose again following a 2011 report by “60 Minutes” that suggested many members of Congress are actively playing the stock market involving businesses that they oversee in their official duties.
Years later, during the course of the pandemic, members of Congress were routinely briefed on its potential economic impact. Following one such confidential briefing, Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and others were engulfed in charges of dumping their stock based on non-public information and each ended up losing their jobs (though none were prosecuted).
And just weeks ago, President Trump mysteriously wrote on Truth Social “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” just hours before he was expected to levy stiff new tariffs on the world economy. Instead, Trump announced a 90-day pause on most tariffs — and stocks soared in value.
Whether the most recent episode involved trading by public officials on the inside of the Trump administration or Congress, significant evidence suggests this may be the case, the lesson is how elected officials in their official capacity may sway markets, and how important it is to prevent any pretense of self-enrichment by banning public officials and their spouses from trading on the stock market at all.
A large bloc of senators crafted the ETHICS Act to do precisely that, which will soon be reintroduced by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), the very choice by Georgia voters to replace the tainted Perdue. On the House side, a companion Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act has emerged the most likely House prospect to ban congressional trading, led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Legislation has been drafted, refined and introduced to ban congressional stock trading. Bipartisan congressional support for the critical ethics reform is developing, and poll after poll show public demand for prohibiting members of Congress and their spouses from playing in the stock market is strong among Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike and remains unwavering.
It has grown increasingly difficult for a majority of Congress to avoid doing the right thing on this measure. The political environment is going to be unrelenting. The actuality or even threat of tariffs imposed at-will by the president is going to be a large part of the nation’s economic agenda for some time to come — and, with it, brazen yet unverifiable allegations of insider trading by public officials “in the know” will litter every hiccup.
Congress, be good to yourself. Pass the ban on congressional stock trading and close the window on all the whispers and public scandals of congressional insider trading. You’ve got more important matters that need tending.
Craig Holman, Ph.D., is government affairs lobbyist at Public Citizen.
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