You may have heard this story before: The Speaker of the House is open to the idea of banning members of Congress from trading stocks, but it’s not exactly clear whether it will happen.
That’s where we were three years ago, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi — after initially causing a firestorm by rejecting the idea — told reporters that she was “okay with that” if that’s what her colleagues wanted to do.
That’s where we are again, with Speaker Mike Johnson telling NPR earlier this month that he’s “open to the conversation.”
“It’s been talked about for quite some time,” Johnson observed. “But there’s probably a reason that the bill hasn’t moved in all those years because there’s never been a consensus built around it.”
Johnson is correct. Despite the broad popularity of banning members of Congress from trading stocks — along with renewed interest driven by scrutiny of recent trades made by lawmakers like Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania — the task of actually passing a bill to do it has never been straightforward.
As of now, there are several proposals in both chambers that would address the issue, and each one is a little bit different. There’s the question of whether spouses should be included in a ban. There are differing views about the feasibility of using blind trusts. And if someone violates the rules, what should be the punishment?
These are all solvable questions, and during the last Congress, a group of senators with dueling bills managed to come together around a common proposal. But we’re in a new Congress now, and lawmakers have largely returned to introducing their own bills.
It’s also a matter of prioritization.
Sure, politicians ranging from President Donald Trump, to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, to Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri all support the idea. But it’s ultimately up to GOP leaders like Johnson and Senate Minority Leader John Thune — who told NPR that the current rules around stock trading disclosures are “pretty good” already — to decide it’s an issue worth taking up.
In the meantime, they’re spending most of their time trying to muscle through a sweeping fiscal bill that’s set to include changes to the tax code and spending cuts.
Even if Johnson and Thune decide it’s important, success isn’t guaranteed.
In 2022, Pelosi and House Democratic leaders ultimately did move towards a vote on banning members of Congress from trading stocks, only to yank the bill due to internal opposition.
This year, it may take pressure from Johnson’s right flank to spur Congress to action.
“It’s been sitting out there for three or four years, we kind of keep dragging feet, and it’s time to deal with it,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told BI in January.