Pelosi Says Congressional Stock Trading Ban Bill Is Ready For A Vote This Month

By Sharon Zhang, Truthout

Long-awaited legislation banning members of Congress from being able to trade individual stocks is ready to come to a vote as soon as this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said in her weekly news briefing on Wednesday.

Lawmakers have been discussing the legislation for months and made some revelations on Wednesday morning, Pelosi said. “We believe we have a product that we can bring to the floor this month,” she said, which she characterized as “exciting.”

It’s unclear what’s in the bill or how much support it will have from Congress, though the general idea does appear to have unusual bipartisan support. In the past year or so, lawmakers have introduced a wide variety of bills on the topic, all containing some form of a ban.

A ban on stock trading could go far in preventing corruption in Congress, with advocates hoping that it will help to prevent lawmakers from directly profiting from legislative decisions. Though there are regulations aimed at preventing stock-related conflicts of interest and increasing financial transparency for Congress members, such laws are often unevenly enforced or are weak enough that they still erode public trust in lawmakers.