During a press conference on Wednesday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hinted that the House would possibly seek to ban lawmakers from trading stocks, a long-awaited piece of legislation.
“There’s been discussion about it, and just recently, this morning, actually, the committee, we’ve been going back and forth, and they were refining things and talking to members about what they think will work, and we believe we have a product that we can bring to the floor this month,” Pelosi said during her press conference.
Pelosi’s comments come a day after the New York Times released a report that said in the last three years, 97 lawmakers or their family members have bought or sold financial assets that could be considered conflicts of interest.
The report found that the 97 was bipartisan, with both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and the House making up those on the report.
But, Pelosi shared that the legislation could be ready next month and that she is very “pleased” with it, noting it is “very strong.”
Behind the scenes, lawmakers have been working for months to create the measure, and it was only made public last month when a bipartisan group said they wanted to vote on the bill by Sept. 30, the Hill reported at the time.
Leading the way on the legislation are Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
The framework for the bill says it should prohibit members of congress, as well as their spouses and minor dependents, from “owning or trading securities, commodities, futures, derivatives, options, or other similar financial assets, including where such investments are traded through an investment vehicle that the covered person controls,”
Any current holdings would be divested, placed in qualified blind trusts, or moved to diversified mutual or enhanced trade funds, U.S. Treasury bills, notes, or bonds.
But, while previously discussed legislation included banning senior staff members from trading stocks, the current legislation would not. Pelosi commented on it when asked about the bill on Wednesday.
“When the bill comes out, you’ll see what it is, and those are some of the discussions that go back and forth,” Pelosi said.
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