President Joe Biden endorsed banning congressional stock trading in an interview about his economic legacy with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political adviser, Faiz Shakir that was published Thursday.
“I think we should be changing the law…that nobody in the Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they’re in the Congress,” the outgoing president said, according to The Hill.
“I don’t know how you look your constituents in the eye and know because the job they gave you, it gave you the inside track to make more money,” Biden, a former longtime Delaware senator, told Shakir, who founded the media group More Perfect Union.
Instead, Biden said he lived on his salary rather than playing in the stock market.
The hot topic has been heavily debated amongst lawmakers on Capitol Hill for years, especially as the approaching COVID-19 pandemic prompted a number of lawmakers to buy and sell stock worth millions after being briefed on the virus, according to the Associated Press.
In early 2024, bipartisan legislation was proposed to ban members of Congress and their families from trading. In addition to the bill blocking legislators from offloading stocks 90 days after the law is enacted, they would also be banned from buying stocks and other forms of financial assets.
Spouses and dependent children would have to comply with the law starting in 2027, including the president and vice president. The bill has an abundance of support but has yet to receive a vote.
While lawmakers are required to disclose stock transactions over $1,000, they are often either late with their routine filing notices or don’t file them at all.
In 2023, the Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer Prize for its in-depth series on regulators who traded stocks during the pandemic and who purchased and sold stocks for companies under their direct regulatory authority.
This is the first time Biden has spoken candidly on stock trading. During former press secretary Jen Psaki’s time at the White House, she mentioned that Biden would “let members of leadership in Congress and members of Congress determine what the rules should be.”
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