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Jeffries gives jolt to stalled congressional stock ban push

2 27
16.04.2025

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is giving a big boost to the effort to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, an idea that has bipartisan backers in Congress and broad support among the public.

The deliberate and public push from Jeffries — coming as he accuses Republicans of potential “stock manipulation” given President Trump’s suggestion that it was a “great time to buy” ahead of his tariff pause — is particularly notable given how his predecessor, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), bristled at the idea.

But there is a long way to go before any changes take effect in law.

The push to bar stock trading for members of Congress gained steam in recent years amid reports that lawmakers may have breached laws in place to prevent transactions from being made on insider information, particularly around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, director of government affairs at the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, noted that it is a rare issue that has united hard-line conservatives and progressives.

“You would think it would be a potential winner because of those dynamics, but we just haven't seen it make it over the finish line,” Hedtler-Gaudette said. But with what “Jeffries said now,” he added, “hopefully we can pull together something that actually happens.”

Jeffries has backed the effort in the past, saying in September 2022: “I have said that I support a stock ban for members of Congress.”

But now, amid outcry over Trump’s tariff policy, allegations of potential market manipulation and reports of GOP lawmakers making recent trades, the Democratic leader leaned in, hard, on the issue.

“So many of these people are crooks, liars, and frauds. And Marjorie Taylor Greene is, of course, exhibit A,” Jeffries said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” on Monday, referring to the firebrand Georgia congresswoman reporting buying tens of thousands of dollars in stock the day before and day of Trump’s pause in sweeping tariffs — which was followed by a market uptick.

“One, we do need to change the law so that sitting members of Congress cannot trade stock, period. Full stop,” Jeffries continued. “And until we get to that point, we obviously have to continue to highlight why this is problematic. And if Republicans are unwilling to hold a hearing on this matter, I can assure........

© The Hill