Representatives Abigail Spanberger and Chip Roy have led 35 of their House of Representatives colleagues in reintroducing an anti-Congressional stock trading bill. The bipartisan bill, called the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act, would require that members of Congress put certain stocks and other investment assets in a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress.
The end goal of the bill and those promoting it is to ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading individual stocks. By forcing the members of Congress to put their assets in a blind trust, the bill would prevent them from using their positions of power to make investment decisions or make policy that influences the value of their existing investments.
Rep. Spanberger’s office announced as much in a statement that was likely made to announce the bill and signal that a bipartisan group is working on stopping the Congressional stock trading that Nancy Pelosi and her husband made famous. In the statement, Rep. Spanberger’s office said:
“U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Chip Roy (R-TX-21) today led 35 of their colleagues in reintroducing a bipartisan bill to require Members of Congress — as well as their spouses and dependent children — to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress, effectively banning them from trading individual stocks.
“By establishing this new firewall between Members and their investments, the Spanberger-Roy Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act would make sure Members of Congress cannot use their positions in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate to unethically inform investment decisions, influence the value of their existing investments, or contribute to greater distrust between the American people and their elected officials.
“Today’s reintroduction marks the most original cosponsors the Spanberger-Roy legislation has ever received on day one. Spanberger and Roy originally introduced the TRUST in Congress Act in June 2020 — and they reintroduced it in January 2021.”
Rep. Spanberger herself, commenting on the matter, said “We are long overdue for a vote on legislation to ban Members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks. Last Congress, we saw the TRUST in Congress Act receive the most bipartisan support of any effort to do so. We saw tremendous momentum, we saw growing support in our districts, and we saw growing recognition across the political spectrum that such a reform needs to be made now. I’ve been proud to lead the charge on this issue, and I want to thank my colleague Congressman Roy for his continued partnership as we reduce potential conflicts of interest in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Our TRUST in Congress Act would demonstrate that lawmakers are focused on serving the interests of the American people — not their own stock portfolios.”
Congressman Dusty Johnson commented on the bill as well, saying “Members of Congress should be held to a high ethical standard. Using any kind of confidential information to ‘game the system’ for personal gain is unacceptable. Public trust in our institutions is declining, and we should take steps to protect the integrity of our government and its officials. Passing this bill will inch us closer to that goal – I’m grateful for the bipartisan leadership on this effort.”
Nancy Pelosi would be among those in Congress hardest hit by the bill. As Trending Politics News reported, “Pelosi has faced repeated criticism for her controversial and opportune stock trades. In the past month, Pelosi attracted attention once again with another well-timed stock sale. According to her disclosure in late December, Pelosi sold approximately 30,000 shares of Google stock just three weeks prior to the announcement of an anti-trust lawsuit against Alphabet, Google’s parent company, by the Justice Department and eight states.”
She’s not the only one, however. RINO Dan Crenshaw, for example, was one of the top five best stock traders in Congress in 2021.
Members of Congress and their spouses shouldn’t be using their position to get rich on the stock market – today l’m introducing legislation to BAN stock trading & ownership by members of Congress. I call it the PELOSI Act pic.twitter.com/aIXNwSnTvW
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 24, 2023
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