WATCH: Spanberger targets Pelosi over inaction on stock trading bill
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday for stalling her bipartisan piece of legislation that banned insider trading in Congress.
Pelosi, who has faced criticism from opponents after husband Paul Pelosi reportedly spent between $1 million and $5 million to purchase 20,000 shares of a semiconductor company while she was in office in June, stalled the bill to unveil a wider piece of legislation that expanded on Spanberger’s original bill last month. During a segment of Special Report, Fox News host Bret Baier asked Spanberger whether she was mad about Pelosi’s delays.
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“The American people are mad about it,” Spanberger said. “Chip Roy, Republican from Texas, and I have worked on this legislation since the early days of COVID. We put forth a bill, straightforward. Members of Congress should not be selling individual stocks. Put it in a blind trust. Trade in mutual funds.”
Spanberger’s legislation would prevent lawmakers and their immediate family members from buying, selling, or trading individual stocks. It also requires them to divest from their investments or place them into a blind trust within 90 days of taking office to avoid conflicts of interest. The bill, named the TRUST in Congress Act, had been co-sponsored by 70 House members on both sides of the political aisle.
“[Pelosi] has employed stall tactic after stall tactic in order to keep delaying what’s potentially a vote on any bill that would ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks,” Spanberger said. “The speaker, unfortunately, doesn’t support it, which is why I will not and have not supported the speaker.”
Pelosi’s larger piece of legislation expanded to include Supreme Court justices. However, Spanberger claimed the piece was designed to fail. The speaker pushed back on Spanberger’s claim that her new bill was designed to fail and claimed she was still working to get the necessary votes.
“First of all, her bill is contained in this bill,” Pelosi said last month. “Other members had ideas to improve upon the bill.”
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The Virginia congresswoman faces a tough reelection next month and is running against Republican candidate Yesli Vega, a former police officer, to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Biden won the district in 2020 by about 1 point, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won it by over 10 points, making the district a toss-up in the midterm elections.
