President Joe Biden has endorsed a ban on Congress Trading, suggesting that members of Congress should not be able to buy and sell stocks in options while they are in office.
What Happened: Congress Trading has been a popular topic among retail investors for years with the trading activity of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi closely followed thanks to the often winning trades made by her husband Paul Pelosi.
President Biden is calling for an end to the current legal practice.
"Nobody in the Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they're in the Congress," Biden said in an interview with political advisor Faiz Shakir.
The video, which is set to be released later this week, will be published by A More Perfect Union, as reported by the Associated Press, which was able to view the video ahead of its release.
Biden's comment comes as members of Congress are currently able to buy and sell stocks, options, and cryptocurrency as long as they properly disclose the trades within the appropriate time limit of 45 days.
In the interview, Shakir said he admired the fact that Biden didn't get into stocks early like Google, Boeing, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon while he was a senator.
"I don't know how you look your constituents in the eye and know, because the job they gave you, gave you an inside track to make more money. I think we should be changing the law," Biden added.
Biden said he was able to live on a Congressional salary and not worry about becoming rich through playing the stock market previously.
The comments made in the interview mark a change in Biden's opinion on the issue. Biden previously refused to weigh in on the issue of congressional trading, saying he would "let members of leadership in Congress and members of Congress determine what the rules should be," as his previous press secretary Jen Psaki reported.
Did You Know?
- Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool
Why It's Important: There have been numerous calls to vote for Congress members to vote for a ban on Congressional trading, but a vote has not happened.
Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) previously told Benzinga that he will continue to advocate for a vote to ban the practice.
"We should have a vote on it," Khanna told Benzinga.
Khanna said that despite his continued speeches in the House advocating for a ban on stock trading, there is a "collective shrug" in Congress regarding the issue.
“It is shameful that over three years after the pandemic with the shenanigans from those senators who sold their stock after learning of the pandemic” there still hasn’t been a vote, Khanna said.
Khanna said that people were outraged at the time when several senators sold their stocks in tourism and other sectors that would be hurt, knowing that the economy could crash from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Senators making money when the rest of the country was suffering during the pandemic.”
With Biden now advocating for the ban before the end of his presidential term, the situation will be closely monitored to see if Congress votes on the matter.
Benzinga will continue to share Congressional trading activity of note. For more on Congress trades, check out Benzinga’s Government Trades page.
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