Pressure mounts on US Congress to stop lawmakers from stock market trading

Washington: Amid a steady drip of damaging headlines, pressure is building for Congress to pass legislation that would curtail lawmakers' ability to speculate on the stock market.

Trading in Congress has long been criticized by government watchdogs, who say the access to nonpublic information creates a temptation for lawmakers to prioritize their own finances over the public good.

But public anger has mounted since the first tremors of the pandemic, when some lawmakers were caught buying and selling millions of dollars worth of stock after being warned about the coming disruption from the virus. The pandemic's arrival tanked markets and caught many Americans by surprise.

Now, with the November election fast approaching and members of both parties embracing reform, congressional leaders are getting on the bandwagon, expressing their willingness to toughen the rules. After a spate of controversies over suspiciously timed trades and undisclosed transactions, few lawmakers are defending the status quo, raising hopes that a significant ethics package is within reach.

This isn't going to solve all of America's problems. But it's a substantive reform that three-fourths of the country supports, said Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is sponsoring a bill that would require lawmakers and their spouses to sell off stocks or place their assets in a blind trust. The Georgia Democrat beat Republican Sen. David Perdue last year in a race that turned largely on Perdue's pandemic-era stock trading.

There's reason for skepticism. Past efforts to tighten ethics rules have fallen short of lawmakers' lofty declarations. And in the end, the task of writing ethics rules governing Congress is left to the lawmakers themselves, creating a conflict that often results in easily evaded restrictions.

But progress is apparent. A raft of bills have been introduced, some by lawmakers at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Senators are working on a compromise. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband is a prolific trader, is on board with the legislative push, though she has advocated a more targeted approach.

Pelosi supports strengthening an existing law, the Stock Act, which requires lawmakers to disclose their stock sales and purchases. She has also called for extending stock trading disclosure requirements to members of the judiciary, while stiffening penalties for members of Congress who flout the rules. "It's complicated," Pelosi said last week. What we're trying to build is

consensus.