Republican opposition threatens to ban GOP lawmakers’ stock trading in the Senate
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The Senate’s attempt to ban lawmakers’ trading stocks did that through the first hurdle Wednesday, but the lack of Republican support for the move marks the rocky path ahead for the effort.
Senator Josh Hawleys Preventing elected leaders from owning securities and investment laws, or Pelosi laws, has advanced to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Accountability Committee, but Missouri Republicans were the only GOP members on the panel to vote for it.
Congress’s stock trading ban passes the committee when Holy denied reporting a White House pushback
R-Mo. Sen. Josh Hawley of the group has advanced the stock ban bill on the committee with the help of Democrats, but GOP’s resistance makes its fate unclear. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
Attempts to ban lawmakers from trading stocks have generally not been that far over the years, but Holy hoped that his bill would be an exception.
Republicans on the panel were not excited by the bill.
Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Land Poler-ky. told Fox News Digital that the bill was “inadequately written.” He warned that it could prevent financially successful Americans from running for office and condemn the bill targeting Trump.
“I think it’s kind of a pushy, less thoughtful approach,” he said.
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Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will speak to members of Washington media on February 9, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Reuters/Reuters)
The Missouri Republican action prohibits lawmakers and their spouses from purchasing, selling or holding individual shares during their tenure.
Lawmakers also check in each year to either the House or Senate Ethics Committee each year to ensure compliance with each year, and the government’s Accountability Office conducts a compliance audit every two years.
The bill also includes the last added provision to ban the next president and vice president from holding or trading shares while in office. Donald Trump Vice President JD Vance, banned.
Holy allegedly Trump supported his action — the president told reporters he “conceptually” likes the bill and would like to read more — and insisted he was open to making changes at the bill’s committee level.
“If anyone really, really wants to improve the bill, I’m happy to tweak it and work with people,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for years, and if they just want to kill it, I’m not that interested. I want to move it forward.”
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Senate majority leader John Tune (R-SD) will speak to reporters following the weekly Senate luncheon held at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on December 17, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images / Getty Images)
But for now, the chances of the bill reaching the Senate floor seem high given the resistance among Republicans and the changing tensions for Trump hours after he supports the bill.
“I wonder if Holy will pass a bill that Nancy Pelosi absolutely loves? He’s heading straight for the dirty Democrats,” Trump told Truth Social, his social media platform. “It’s a great bill for her and her ‘husband’, but it’s not so bad for our country! A real Republican would not want to meet an unprecedented success president due to the “whims” of a second-tier senator named Josh Hawley. ”
Certainly, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy PelosiD-Calif has been scrutinized for its long-standing stock portfolio. approved the Holy bill shortly after moving forward in the committee.
And when asked by reporters if the bill would get floor time in the future, Senate majority leader John TuneRs.D. said he suspected “I put anything on the floor where there was just one Republican.”
Senator Ron JohnsonR-Wis, a member of the Homeland Security Committee. called the bill “offensive” and claimed that he already had an insider trading law that controls what lawmakers can and cannot.
“We’ve already created so many obstructions that we might have titled the Career Politician Protection Act. We’ve made it less appealing for someone to give up work in the private sector,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.
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Sen. James Lankford said he is a supporter of lawmakers who have not bought or sold stocks, but as chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, it is up to him to actually enforce the ban.
“I think there’s something you need, and there are a lot of details that aren’t fully thought about,” he told Fox News Digital. “The concept is correct. We’re not ready for prime time yet.”