Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) reintroduced legislation Monday during the current 119th U.S. Congress, which would ban members of Congress and their family members from being able to trade or hold stocks.
The bill, titled the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, would “amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to prohibit transactions involving certain financial instruments by Members of Congress,” according to the bill’s text.
The PELOSI Act, which references Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was also reintroduced by Hawley in January 2023. In 2022, Hawley announced that he would introduce the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act.
The PELOSI Act would also “ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding, purchasing or selling individual stocks for the duration of the lawmaker’s time in office,” according to a press release from Hawley.
If the PELOSI Act is passed, lawmakers “would have 180 days to comply with the legislation,” according to the press release.
Lawmakers who refuse to comply with the PELOSI Act would have to “forfeit any stock profits to the U.S. Department of the Treasury” and would face monetary penalties.
“Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve—not day trading at the expense of their constituents,” Hawley said in a statement. “Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public. It’s time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans’ trust in our nation’s legislative body.”
Breitbart News’s John Binder reported in 2023 that Hawley had introduced the PELOSI Act after Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi bought “up to $5 million in stock in a semiconductor company”:
The legislation, known as the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, references former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who was called out last year after her husband, Paul Pelosi, bought up to $5 million in stock in a semiconductor company right as the Senate was passing legislation to massively subsidize the semiconductor industry.
In an interview with Time magazine, President Donald Trump was asked if he would “support a ban on congressional stock trading.” Trump said that he would “absolutely” sign legislation banning congressional stock trading.
“Well, I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it,” Trump answered. “If they send that to me, I would do it.”
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