Top Trump Official Notes Suspicious Stock Gains in Congress
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed serious concerns about the significant stock gains being made by some members of Congress, supporting a ban on individual stock trading by lawmakers. Speaking too Bloomberg, Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, highlighted how these returns are exceptionally high-exceeding what many hedge funds achieve-and emphasized that such profits damage the credibility of the House and Senate. He stated that members of Congress should serve the American people rather than use their positions to get rich, noting that if private citizens engaged in similar trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would investigate them.
Despite several bills addressing congressional stock trading having been introduced, Bessent said he has not seen an ideal proposal yet but reiterated that heavy trading by legislators erodes trust and promotes suspicion of insider advantages. He mentioned a case where a lawmaker made over a thousand trades in a two-year period, far more than his own hedge fund.
Former President donald Trump has also voiced support for banning individual stock trades by members of Congress, citing concerns over insider information usage by lawmakers such as Nancy pelosi, and expressing willingness to sign such legislation if presented to him. the discussion reflects growing public and political concern about conflicts of interest and ethical standards in Washington related to stock trading by elected officials.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent voiced concern over the “eye-popping” stock gains some members of Congress are making, expressing support for some form of ban on individual trades.
The senior Trump administration official told Bloomberg on Wednesday that the American people are right to be concerned.
“I am going to start pushing for a single stock trading ban, because it is the credibility of the House and the Senate that you look at some of these eye-popping returns,” Bessent said.
“Every hedge fund would be jealous of them,” he said of the returns earned by California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden.
Bessent is himself a former hedge fund manager.
“And you know, the American people deserve better than this. People shouldn’t come to Washington to get rich,” Bessent said of the massive stock profits.
“They should come to serve the American people, and it brings down trust in the system because, I can tell you, that if any private citizen traded this way, the SEC would be knocking on their door,” he continued.
Although several bills regarding congressional stock trades have been introduced, Bessent said he has not seen the “perfect bill” submitted quite yet.
He nevertheless repeated how massive stock profits undermine the institution of Congress and foster mistrust.
“The House and the Senate, they’re supposed to be working for the American people, their constituents,” Bessent said.
“They’re supposed to be making law. And they shouldn’t be trading every day. I’m not going to name names, but there was one person in Congress who had 1,200 or 1,300 trades two years ago,” he continued.
“And you know, my hedge fund didn’t have that many trades.”
President Donald Trump has previously said that he would support a ban on trading individual stocks for members of Congress.
“Well, I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be OK with it. If they send that to me, I would do it,” Trump said to Time Magazine in April.
He made clear that he would “absolutely” sign a ban.
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