A campaign to ban members of Congress from stock trading is building momentum after research revealed politicians made trades worth more than $1 billion last year – and many vastly outperformed the market.
Lawmakers are accused of ‘gangster’ tactics by critics who have demanded legislation to prohibit members of Congress and their closest relatives from owning or trading stocks.
The proposed law – known as the ETHICS act – already has the backing of several members but needs more support before it can be passed.
The campaign to end the trading by America’s top politicians has gained momentum after disclosures revealed several enjoyed runaway success on the stock market last year.
Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, is one of the most prolific traders, having made trades totaling around $100 million since 2019. Her returns were around 65 percent last year, according to an analysis, vastly outperforming the broader market.
Nancy Pelosi, pictured at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, is one of the most prolific traders in Congress and enjoyed gains of more than 60 percent last year, according to an analysis
A report into trades by members of Congress reveals several have vastly outperform the stock market in recent in years
Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York was singled out as one of Congress’ best performers after he enjoyed returns of 238 percent on his investments, placing him number one in terms of percentage gains. Higgins’ gains came from several trades in 2020.
Mark Green, the Republican chair of the Homeland Security Committee, was found to have made gains of 122.2 percent.
Other studies have found that stocks chosen by members of Congress have returned around 273 percent since April 2020.
None of the lawmakers are accused of illegal activity.
Unusual Whales, a trading community which compiled a report of Congress members’ trading activity in 2023, has now partnered with RepresentUs, an anti-corruption organization, to mount a fresh campaign against the practice.
They say politicians should be banned from owning or trading stock entirely to prevent them working with inside information or taking decisions based on their own financial interests.
RepresentUs CEO Joshua Graham Lynn said: ‘It’s outrageous that members of Congress are gaming the stock market while millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet. I’d call it gangster behavior, but that would imply it’s illegal and, sadly, it is not.
‘The overwhelming majority of Americans want this to stop. So let’s make it stop.’
Polls have shown 70 percent of Americans support a ban on lawmakers trading.
An overwhelming number of politicians from both parties have also signaled they support a ban – but are yet to pass strict legislation that would end the practice.
Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York was singled out as one of Congress’ best performers after he enjoyed returns of 238 percent on his investments
Mark Green, the Republican chair of the Homeland Security Committee, was found to have made gains of 122.2 percent, according to an analysis
Pelosi is among those who have said they would support a ban. In 2020 she backed the idea but said it ‘has to be government-wide’ – which was perceived by some critics as simply kicking the can down the road.
Currently, lawmakers are bound by the 2012 STOCK act, an acronym for Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge.
The law makes it illegal for politicians and their staff to use private information derived from their official work for personal gain. Lawmakers must also disclose their trades within 45 days.
But the standard punishment for violating the act is a fine of only $200 – a figure which is dwarfed by the gains of some politicians. And dozens of lawmakers from both sides have repeatedly breached the rules of the act.
A review by Business Insider in January 2023 found 78 members of Congress had failed to report their trades on time. They included Senator Tommy Tuberville, the Republican from Alabama, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Democrat from Maryland.
The ETHICS act – Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks – would ban politicians and their closest relatives from owning and trading stocks altogether.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, lead sponsor of the bill, has called stock trading by Congress ‘deeply corrupt’.
‘We are elected to serve the public, not our portfolios. And no member should vote on bills biased by the character of their holdings,’ said Merkley.
In total members of Congress made about 11,000 transactions in 2023 – down from a high of 17,000 during Covid year 2020 and 14,000 in 2022. The trades amounted to nearly $1 billion in volume.
A tool which copies investments by members of Congress and their families has risen 20 percent in the 12 months to January. The green shows the Congress tracker has far outperformed the the S&P500, represented by the gray line, since April 2020
A separate tool focused solely on Nancy Pelosi’s portfolio shows that her investments have risen by around 50 percent across in the year to January. Pelosi’s investments are illustrated by the blue line, while the grey line shows the performance of the S&P500 across the same period
Democrats beat Republicans in terms of performance and volume of transactions last year.
In total 33 percent of traders in Congress beat the S&P500, which tracks the value of America’s largest companies. About a fifth of members traded, down by around 33 percent from 2020 to 2022.
House Democrats filed about 7,000 transactions, House Republicans filed 3,000.
The members with the largest number of transactions did not necessarily perform the best.
Rep. Rho Khanna, D-Calif., reported 4,253 transactions but underperformed the S&P 500, which had 25 percent returns versus his 13 percent returns.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, had 1,826 transactions but only 11 percent returns.
Members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee purchased healthcare stocks in 435 separate transactions and financial services stocks in 392.
Members of the Armed Services Committee made 392 transactions in healthcare stocks and 277 in financial services stocks.