Republican Senator Josh Hawley has reintroduced legislation aimed at preventing members of Congress from trading individual stocks, reviving a push for ethics reform that has seen several false starts in recent years.
The Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act would ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks while in office.
The name is a pointed reference to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi, whose stock trading activities have drawn scrutiny.
“Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve—not day trading at the expense of their constituents,” said Senator Hawley in a statement. “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.”
Under the proposed legislation, current lawmakers would have 180 days to comply by divesting their individual stock holdings or transferring them to diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or US Treasury bonds. Newly elected members would face the same 180-day deadline from their first day in office.
The bill includes enforcement mechanisms requiring lawmakers who refuse to comply to forfeit any stock profits to the US Department of the Treasury and face additional monetary penalties imposed by congressional ethics committees.
President Trump has reportedly indicated he would sign such legislation if it reached his desk, potentially giving the bill momentum in this congressional session.
This marks Hawley’s third attempt at passing this legislation. He previously introduced the bill in 2022 and again in 2023, but both attempts failed to gain sufficient traction. The initial effort was spurred when former Senator Richard Burr, then chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, came under investigation for selling the majority of his stocks in February 2020 after receiving classified briefings on the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
Flashback: PELOSI Act: Senator Josh Hawley Introduces Bill That Bans Lawmakers from Holding and Trading Stocks
Congressional stock trading has become a contentious issue across party lines. While Pelosi initially opposed trading restrictions, saying lawmakers should be able to participate in a “free market economy,” she later softened her position amid public pressure.
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