Nancy Pelosi’s Stock Ban Continues To Be Controversial
(RepublicanDaily.org) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has surprised many analysts with her apparent turnabout on the subject of stock trading by lawmakers. As recently as last year, she was firm in statements of her belief that government officials should be allowed to trade securities as they see fit. Now, however, she’s throwing her weight behind a legislative ban on the practice.
What’s in Pelosi’s Stock Trading Bill?
The Combatting Financial Conflicts of Interest in Government Act would ban lawmakers, federal judges, certain executive officials, and their immediate family members from trading stocks, cryptocurrencies, futures contracts, commodity investments, and other types of financial instruments.
Any affected individuals with existing holdings would have to offload these within a certain length of time after the passage of the legislation, or else place them into an approved blind trust. Additionally, any newly elected or appointed officials, or their family members, would have to comply with the rules within a given period following the beginning of their time in the role.
Speaker Pelosi was the driving force behind this legislative effort, having given fellow California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren the green light to draft it earlier this year. Republican leaders like Sens. Josh Hawley (MO) and Mitch McConnell (KY) subsequently said they could support it in a vote.
Will the Bill Pass Into Law?
Despite a large measure of bipartisan support and widespread enthusiasm among voters, this legislation appears unlikely to become law during this session of Congress. The primary reason for this is the short timeframe lawmakers have to push the bill through before they go on recess ahead of this November’s midterm elections.
Part of the reason for the delay, political analysts claim, is the division on the issue within the Democratic caucus. Many of Pelosi’s closest allies in the House reportedly have reservations about banning investment by lawmakers; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) indicated he would not vote in favor of the bill during this session. The speaker is likely unwilling to air such a divisive issue so close to midterm elections, but the fact she was keen to back the bill may win her credit with voters.
Pelosi told the media the bill was unlikely to succeed because of a lack of support for it in her chamber. However, given the fact a final bill did not exist until relatively recently, it’s not clear whether this is true, or how the speaker could have known for a fact how well the legislation would be received.
Do you think members of Congress and other government officials should be banned from trading stocks and other types of investment securities?
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