Bessent rips Pelosi, calls for single-stock trading ban in Congress
'I am going to start pushing for a single-stock trading ban, because it is the credibility of the House and the Senate,' Bessent said on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.
'You look at some of these eye-popping returns — whether it is Rep. Pelosi, Sen. Wyden — every hedge fund would be jealous of them. And the American people deserve better than this,' Bessent added.
His comments come as momentum for a ban on members of Congress trading individual stocks has ramped up amid increasing public scrutiny of stock trades. Current law prohibits insider trading by lawmakers and requires more disclosures, but critics say the law does not go far enough.
'People shouldn't come to Washington to get rich, 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 [Securities and Exchange Commission] would be knocking on their door,' Bessent said.
Pelosi has come under arguably the most scrutiny for highly successful trades made by her husband Paul Pelosi, which she is required to report in financial disclosures.
Pelosi spokesperson Ian Krager told The Hill in response to Bessent: 'Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.'
She has also endorsed a bill that advanced in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last month that would bar not only members, their spouses, and their dependent children from buying and trading stocks, but also the president and vice president. Since the requirement would not apply until the start of the elected officials' next terms, it would exempt President Trump if enacted.
Trump has said he would support a stock trade ban, but he attacked Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) for his support of the bill. Hawley later said Trump was under the mistaken impression it would apply to him.
Over in the House, members of both parties have called for stock trade bans, with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) pledging to start a discharge petition to force a vote on another stock trade ban bill.
Wyden's stock portfolio, meanwhile, saw a stunning 123.8 percent gain in 2024, according to data from the financial analysis platform Unusual Whales reported in the Salem Business Journal. Wyden's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It's not only Democrats who have come under scrutiny for stock trading, though.
A report from the House Ethics Committee last month found that Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) violated the lower chamber's code of conduct when his wife traded stocks for a company in Kelly's district after the congressman learned nonpublic information about the firm.
And Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) has caught heat for continuing to trade stocks despite saying he wants to ban member stock trading.
Bresnahan has introduced a stock trading ban bill and says that he has no involvement with the trades that his financial advisers have made on his behalf. While he has said he wants to keep his current financial advisers and create a blind trust that would put a more stringent firewall between him and those trades, he has found problems in crafting that plan with the House Ethics Committee.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
19 minutes ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: The Trump administration's mixing business with politics to build a chip empire
Don't mix business with pleasure — or the music of the spheres might eject you from the skies even if you are an astronomer — but it seems, in the current milieu, there are no such restrictions between business and politics. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is eyeing a stake in struggling chipmaker Intel, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. That consideration is primarily attributable to Intel's status as the only born-and-bred American company that can manufacture the fastest chips on U.S. soil. While some firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung, both of which can produce 3-nanometer chips — the most advanced semiconductors so far — have factories in the U.S., they are Taiwanese and South Korean companies, respectively, and probably do not enjoy apple pies on the Fourth of July. In combination with the news that Nvidia and AMD will pay the U.S. government a 15% share of their revenue from chip sales in China, as well as Apple committing to make more chips in America, the Trump administration seems to be consolidating a chip empire with the White House as its capital. To modify a song last heard by the Astronomer CEO before he was cast down to Earth: "I used to rule the world / Chips would rise when I gave the word."The Trump administration is reportedly considering a stake in Intel. The chipmaker is the only U.S. company that can manufacture the most advanced semiconductors in America. Intel's shares soared 7.4% after Bloomberg reported the news. Wholesale prices in the U.S. heat up. The producer price index for July shot up 0.9% on the month, higher than the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.2% gain. It was the biggest monthly rise since 2022. The annual figure came in at 3.3%, the highest since February. Potential Fed chair David Zervos backs an aggressive rate cut. The Jefferies chief market strategist told CNBC that reaccelerating wholesale prices in July should not deter the central bank from cutting its "restrictive" monetary policy by 50 basis points. U.S. stocks flirt with the flatline. The S&P 500's barest 0.03% gain, however, means it closed at another high on Thursday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index added 0.55%. Meanwhile, the U.K. economy expanded by a better-than-expected 0.3% in the second quarter. [PRO] European defense stocks will benefit from Trump-Putin meeting. Regardless of whether the talks result in any breakthroughs on the war in Ukraine, analysts think it's a "win-win" situation for defense stocks. Putin vs. Trump? Ukraine talks could be a test of statecraft Russian President Vladimir Putin's standing in the West may be pretty low, but he's a skilled and seasoned statesman who shouldn't be underestimated, analysts say — and he's likely to be looking to outmaneuver his less experienced U.S. counterpart when the leaders meet in Alaska on Friday. "Let's be clear, Putin does not take Trump seriously," Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC ahead of the talks.
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Failed New Mexico candidate gets 80 years in shootings at officials' homes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison Wednesday for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the 2020 election. A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque, including the current state House speaker. Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life. Peña's lawyers had sought a 60-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges. They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency. 'Today was a necessary step toward Mr. Peña's continued fight to prove his innocence,' said Nicholas Hart, one of Peña's attorneys. 'He looks forward to the opportunity to appeal, where serious issues about the propriety of this prosecution will be addressed.' The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a 'rigged' election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state Legislature. The shootings targeted the homes of officials including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator's 10-year-old daughter. Two other men who had acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and received yearslong prison sentences.
an hour ago
Youngkin praises Virginia's economy, dismissing Democrats' concerns over Medicaid and job cuts
RICHMOND, Va. -- Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Thursday that Virginia's economy is thriving after ending its fiscal year with high revenues, a characterization Democrats criticized as rose-colored in light of budgetary decisions in neighboring Washington, D.C. In a presentation to the state's money committees, Youngkin and Virginia's secretary of finance said revenues for the fiscal year resulted in a $572 million surplus and a $4.7 billion rainy-day fund. Economic output in the state grew by about 1 percent higher than initially forecast, officials said. 'The strength and success we see today is no accident. It is the result of very intentional decisions made by all of us — intentional decisions to lift up opportunity in the Commonwealth of Virginia,' Youngkin said in his speech to lawmakers. 'And these decisions are yielding dividends. They're enabling us to compete and to win.' Democratic lawmakers were quick to push back, particularly in light of looming Medicaid work requirements for some adults after Congress passed a reconciliation bill last month. Youngkin repeatedly said Medicaid will not be taken away from Virginians, and Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings added that hospitals will be able to absorb any additional costs from federal cuts to Medicaid. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Scott Surovell cited an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office this year estimating that roughly 11 million Americans will lose access to Medicaid. 'The governor stood up here and said a million times, repeatedly, that nobody is coming to throw out Medicaid,' Surovell said. He added that the CBO, which 'America relies upon to tell us the answers to these things, tells us that millions of Americans are going to lose their Medicaid.' Democrats also said the governor is not fully acknowledging that the White House's reshaping of the federal workforce will continue to impact the state's economy. The job losses that factored into Youngkin's assessment did not include federal workers who took buyouts and are still receiving payments until later this year, Cummings said. But Republican House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore praised Youngkin's presentation, calling it 'the kind of news every Virginian should cheer.' 'It happened because Republicans have kept a steady hand on the wheel,' Kilgore said. ___
