Congressional Stock Trading

When profit matters more than principles

Few issues rile voters on both sides of the aisle like Congressional stock trading. Although the STOCK Act has required members to disclose transactions, there are still far too few constraints to limit members from profiting from private information and achieving returns that dwarf the average stock index return.

Take recent disclosures from Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas’ 10th congressional district, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees, and has previously traded shares of Oshkosh, which is a company heavily influenced by foreign affairs, as well as purchasing Meta stock right after he voted to ban TikTok back in 2024. At the other end of the spectrum is Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi and her husband’s investment activity have drawn sustained attention, as their portfolio has far outperformed the broader market in many reported years. Data show her holdings, particularly in tech names like Nvidia, have delivered returns well enough above average that there has been a whole X account titled “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” that is dedicated to tracking her and other members' trading activity.

These individual cases feed into a broader debate. Supporters of current rules say disclosures invite scrutiny and that insider trading laws already apply. Opponents believe that members should be banned from stock trading as a whole and be required to sell their investments or pass them off to a third party.

Members of Congress who trade stocks in companies that go against their values directly contradict the trust that their voters have given them. How can we as voters support our politicians when the members themselves knowingly invest against their constituents' wishes?