Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a long resume of accomplishments she would love to be remembered for, but her lasting legacy may be something that sullies her name forever.
Pelosi is the first female Speaker in American history and managed to keep even her slim majorities together for historic votes. And she may be regarded as one of the most consequential Speakers of all time.
However, her lasting legacy may be the establishment of a law named after her that prohibits members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks, following the fortune she and her husband accumulated over the decades, according to Fox News.
What is worse for the former Speaker is that the effort is bipartisan, with members of her own party signing on to support what has been dubbed in the Senate as the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act.
Missouri Republican Rep. Mark Alford introduced his version Wednesday to ban congressional stock trading, which he said is “complementary” to Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation in the Senate.
“As public servants, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard and avoid the mere appearance of corruption,” Rep. Alford said in a press release. “Unfortunately, too many members of Congress are engaging in suspicious stock trades based on non-public information to enrich themselves. These gross violations of the public trust make clear: we must finally take action to ban members and their spouses from owning or selling individual stocks.”
“Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve—not day trading at the expense of their constituents,” Sen. Hawley said. “Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public. It’s time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans’ trust in our nation’s legislative body.”
“The PELOSI Act bans lawmakers and their spouses from holding, purchasing, or selling individual stocks while in office, but allows investments in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or U.S. Treasury bonds,” the press release said.
“The legislation gives current lawmakers 180 days to comply with the restrictions and allows newly elected members of Congress the same 180-day compliance timeline after taking office,” it said.
