Hawley introduces Pelosi Act banning lawmakers from trading stocks

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading and owning stocks, using the name of his legislation to take a jab at Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Hawley on Tuesday introduced the Pelosi Act — or the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act — renewing a legislative push to curtail stock trading by lawmakers that has failed over the last few years.

“Members of Congress and their spouses shouldn’t be using their position to get rich on the stock market,” Hawley tweeted in announcing his bill.

The GOP senator previously introduced legislation last year seeking to ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding stocks or making new transactions while in office.

The Hill has reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment.

Hawley, like a number of other Republicans, has focused on the former Speaker and her family in pushing to ban stock trading by members of Congress.

Last year Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, sold millions of dollars worth of shares of a computer chipmaker as the House prepared to vote on a bill focused on domestic chip manufacturing. A spokesman for Pelosi said at the time that he sold the shares at a loss.

Members of both parties signaled interest in legislation barring stock trades after then-Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who at the time was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unloaded stocks at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently closed a probe of his trading activities without taking action.

Lawmakers have yet to be able to come up with a plan that garners enough support from both sides of the aisle to get a bill through Congress. Democrats in 2022 scrapped a plan to vote on such legislation before the midterm elections, even after Pelosi reversed course and expressed openness to colleagues voting for stock trading reform.

Along with Hawley’s bill, a bipartisan duo in the House has introduced a bill this year on the topic. Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the Trust in Congress Act this month, marking the third time the pair have introduced the legislation.