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A long-awaited stock trading ban passed through the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday, with committee Democrats joining with the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to send the bill to the floor of the Senate.
Hawley originally introduced the “PELOSI Act” earlier this year, but what ultimately passed through the dizzying committee markup process on Wednesday was the Honest Act. Both pieces of legislation ban all members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks while in office, in addition to closing various loopholes around direct trades. The critical difference between the two bills is that the Honest Act also bans the president and vice president from making trades while in office. That provision wouldn’t go into effect until after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance leave office, however.
Media reports Wednesday morning claimed that the White House had pushed back on that provision once they caught wind of it, but Hawley told Fox News Digital in an interview that he never heard any such messaging from the administration and “certainly not from Trump.” Hawley was the sole Republican on the committee to vote in favor of the bill, despite a former co-sponsor of the PELOSI Act, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, sitting on the committee as well.
Trump reacted to the Hawley bill’s progress during a Wednesday press conference. He reiterated his support for a congressional stock trading ban, but declined to endorse the legislation outright. He did not comment directly on the ban’s inclusion of the top executive offices.
MACE SOUNDS OFF ON STOCK TRADING IN CONGRESS, PELOSI REMAINS SILENT: ‘SOMETHING DOESN’T ADD UP’
“I like it conceptually,” Trump said of the bill. “I don’t know about it, but I like it conceptually and, you know, Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information. She made a fortune with her husband. And I think that’s disgraceful. So in that sense, I’d like it, but I’d have to really see. I’d have, you know — I study these things very carefully, and this just happened. So I’ll take a look at it. But conceptually, I like it.”
A source familiar with Wednesday’s negotiations told Fox News Digital that Hawley negotiated with Democrats while keeping Republicans in the dark, citing multiple pieces of legislation that crossed lawmakers’ desks Monday morning that each had different versions of the ban. Hawley faced staunch criticism from his Republican colleagues during the markup process.
“I have no idea what we’re voting for,” Moreno said. “I have not read the mountains of paper that are sitting in front of me.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS TAKE STEP CLOSER TO BANNING CONGRESSIONAL STOCK TRADING
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., one of the wealthiest members in Congress, remarked, “I don’t know when in this country it became a negative to make money.”
“I don’t mind anyone being rich. I mind people getting rich while they’re here and trading stocks,” Hawley responded.
Following the hearing, reporters asked Hawley about the criticism from his Republican colleagues more broadly.
“They don’t want to ban stock trading. I just think that’s a mistake,” he responded.
Current GOP versions of the stock trading ban moving through the House of Representatives do not include the president and vice president.
Hawley’s ban would prohibit lawmakers, the president, vice president and their spouses from holding, purchasing or selling stocks for the duration of their time in office. Officeholders would be allowed to invest in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or U.S. Treasury bonds while in office.
If passed, current lawmakers would have 180 days to comply with the legislation. Likewise, newly elected lawmakers must achieve compliance within 180 days of entering office. The legislation would not apply to the executive offices until the end of Trump and Vance’s term.
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