Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed support Wednesday for banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, while noting the counterarguments on financial difficulties that members face.
The remarks are the most substantial comments he has made on the proposal to date.
“I’m in favor of that, because I don’t think we should have any appearance of impropriety here,” Johnson said in a press conference Wednesday when asked about congressional stock trading ban proposals.
The push to bar stock trading for members of Congress has gained steam in recent years amid reports of lawmakers profiting from trades made before market downturns or upswings, despite laws prohibiting lawmakers from trading on insider information. Most recently, lawmakers came under scrutiny for trades made before President Trump announced a pause on sweeping tariffs, resulting in a market upswing.
But there is resistance to the idea. The Speaker recognized that those opposed to the idea note the salary for members of Congress has been frozen since 2009, amounting to around a 30 percent pay cut when adjusting for inflation. Most members make a salary of $174,000, while the Speaker makes $223,500, and other top party leaders make $193,400.
“If you stay on this trajectory, you’re going to have less qualified people who are willing to make the extreme sacrifice to run for Congress,” Johnson said. “I mean, just people just make a reasonable decision as a family on whether or not they can come to Washington and have a residence here, residence at home, and do all the things that are required. So the counterargument is, and I have some sympathy, ‘Look, at least let them, like, engage in some stock trading, so that they can continue to, you know, take care of their family.’”
But “on balance,” Johnson said, “we probably should” ban stock trading “because I think it’s been abused in the past, and I think sadly, a few bad actors discolor it for everyone.”
There is bipartisan support for legislation to ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks, and it is a rare issue that unites progressives and hard-line conservatives.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus board who had withheld support for Johnson for Speaker back in January released a letter at the time saying they expected Johnson to put forward legislation to end stock trading by members of Congress.
Johnson, though, did not commit to bringing such legislation for a vote.
“Look, we have no tolerance for anything even resembling insider trading or any of this kind of advantage that anybody could take. Zero tolerance for it, and we’ll stamp it out ourselves,” Johnson said.
“We’ll see where it lands,” he said of the debate.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) recently reiterated his support for a congressional stock trading ban.
“We do need to change the law so that sitting members of Congress cannot trade stock, period. Full stop,” Jeffries said on MSNBC last month.
One leading proposal to ban congressional stock trading is the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress Act, which would require not only sitting members themselves but also their spouses and dependents to put certain kinds of investment assets into a blind trust. Lawmakers, led by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) reintroduced that bill in January.
And last year, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee advanced the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks Act, which would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from trading stocks. But it did not pass the full Senate.
