US House Passes ‘Stop Insider Trading Act’ – From Ro Khanna to Nancy Pelosi, Here’s Who Could Be Affected Most | Today’s news
The House passed legislation on Wednesday that would ban members of Congress from buying individual stocks. The Stop Insider Trading Act cleared the House 232 to 198, with full support from Republicans and 13 Democrats on board.
Under the bill, lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children are prohibited from buying individual shares of publicly traded companies, with a few exceptions, such as certain investment funds, while in office, the New York Post reported.
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The bill also proposed that lawmakers, their spouses, and dependent children could not sell shares without giving between 7–14 days’ notice. Violators will be fined and subject to ethics review.
Based on data from Quiver Quantitative, who could be most affected if the bill ever becomes law:
1. Ro Khanna
The home of Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was traded the most — 4,772 times — and the most expensive asset last year, totaling $65.9 million, The New York Post reported, citing Quiver Quantitative.
Khanna’s portfolio of deals appears to be heavily diversified across industrial, technology, financial, healthcare and other sectors.
“I do not own or trade in stocks and I have led the fight to ban stock trading,” Khanna said on social media last month.
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“My household’s only investments are in a trust that my in-laws established prior to marriage, which is administered independently by a third-party trustee in full compliance with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and house rules,” he reportedly said.
Khanna also wrote a detailed Substack explaining his family’s finances and emphasizing that his “household compliance has been independently verified by congressional trade watchdogs.”
2. Nancy Pelosi
Former House Speaker Pelosi’s household is listed as having conducted $52,525,000 worth of transactions over the past year on 21 occasions, the report claims.
“Speaker Pelosi owns no stock and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” her spokesman Ian Krager told The Post.
3. Michael McCaul
The family of the retired former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), allegedly moved $48 million in assets to 980 different businesses.
McCaul’s team has previously addressed the controversy surrounding his family’s stock trading, noting that his “wife has assets that she owns entirely and a third-party manager” makes purchases “without her guidance.”
4. Tony Wied
House Rep. Tony Wied (R-Wis.) moved about $25.9 million in 19 different deals, with most of the assets coming from the technology sector, the New York Post claimed.
Wied supported the Stop Insider Trading Act, but argued that it should have gone further to prevent potential corruption on Capitol Hill.
“I plan to support this symbolic gesture when it comes to voting, but let’s be real — insider trading is already completely illegal,” Wied told The Post.
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“If my colleagues on both sides of the aisle were serious about solving the real problem, we would go much further with this legislation and address the real problem plaguing the swamp: career politicians using their connections and insider knowledge to enrich themselves after leaving office as lobbyists and federal contractors,” he said.
5. Gil Cisneros
Rep. Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.) and his family were listed as moving $12 million on more than 1,128 occasions that included investments in technology, healthcare and industrials.
“My wife and I have always employed outside financial advisors who have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain a diversified portfolio,” Cisneros told The Post.
“We do not manage the day-to-day trading of our investment portfolio, nor have we ever proposed a trade while serving in Congress or the Department of Defense,” Cisneros said.
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Cisneros went on to stress that he has “always followed all rules and regulations regarding stock trading and financial disclosure” and supports stricter ethics measures.
Other leaders are likely to be affected
Quiver Quantitative reported by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) as the top businessman in Congress, but his office blamed it on an error in his financial disclosures.
The top 10 on the list of sitting lawmakers who moved the most business last year are: Reps. Cleo Fields (D-La.), Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), Tim Moore (R-NC), Gottheimer and Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), according to Quiver Quantitative data.
“Speaker McClain’s investments are a matter of public record. They were made in accordance with all House rules and applicable law,” GOP communications director Joe Buccino told The Post of McClain.
