Matt Gaetz wants to ban all Congress members from individual stock trading
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said he supports the notion of banning U.S. representatives and senators from trading individual stocks Friday.
“No member of Congress should be allowed to trade individual stocks,” Gaetz said.
The Florida Republican was responding to a post reporting that New Jersey Republican Rep. Michael Guest, who sits on an energy subcommittee, has traded stocks throughout Congress “actively.”
According to a U.S. politician stock trading tracker, Guest has traded stocks since 2021, including major energy company Exxon Mobil Corp, Valero Energy Corp, Chord Energy Corp, Woodside Energy Group Ltd and more.
Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills demanded a similar stock trade ban earlier this month.
“Congress needs to bring stock trade bans to the floor for a vote,” Mills said. “Let’s see who’s really here to serve the people, or serve themselves.”
The Biden administration said it would support such a measure earlier last year.
Gaetz was among those who introduced such a measure in May with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. That effort was led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
“Members of Congress are spending their time trading futures instead of securing the future of our fellow Americans,” Gaetz said. “We cannot allow the Swamp to prioritize investing in stocks over investing in our country.”
“As long as concerns about insider trading hang over the legislative process, Congress will never regain the trust of the American people,” he said. “Our responsibility in Congress is to serve the people, not hedge bets on the stock market.”
Sens. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo. filed such a measure in July.
“Politicians and civil servants shouldn’t spend their time day-trading and trying to make a profit at the expense of the American public, but that’s exactly what so many are doing,” Hawley said.
The issue typically receives some bipartisan support and broad public support.
Recently in September, Sens. John Ossoff, D-Ga., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., filed to ban the practice by congressional members.
Current law requires members to report their trades and money made from them.
Representatives and senators traded nearly $355 million during 2021, according to MarketWatch.
According to the Campaign Legal Center, around 53% of the 117th Congress owned stock. A slightly higher percentage of Republicans owned stocks than Democrats.
