Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., says she supports banning stock trading for sitting members of Congress “100%,” saying, “we shouldn’t be voting on things we can benefit from financially.”
Though supportive of efforts to curb the practice of trading by members of Congress, Mace, a staunch conservative, told Fox News Digital that she is not surprised the effort has been unsuccessful so far.
“It’s Washington. Washington is doing what it always does,” she said, adding, “The establishment rules and … when you see the kind of returns members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are getting that the average American isn’t, something doesn’t add up.”
According to Quiver Quantitative, Mace has no reported stock trading activity and has a net worth of $3.4 million.
While former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, declined to answer questions on a congressional stock-trading ban, Rep. Nancy Mace said she supports such a proposal. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I support it 100%. I don’t trade stocks,” said Mace. “I think I have learned since I’ve been up here that we can be market makers, and when we do bills, or we vote on things, or we do legislation, we shouldn’t be voting on things that we could benefit from financially.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meanwhile, declined to comment on her stance.
According to Quiver Quantitative, the former speaker of the House, who has a net worth of a little over $261 million and, as of April 28, was reported as holding $119.9 million in stocks, has been heavily criticized for engaging in lucrative trading.
When asked by Fox News Digital whether she would support banning lawmakers from trading stocks, Pelosi ignored the question and continued walking.
HAWLEY REIGNITES ‘PELOSI ACT’ PUSH TO BAN LAWMAKERS FROM TRADING STOCKS
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks with Katie Couric on Oct. 24, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
This comes after Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban congressional stock trading, serving as the House companion bill to Sen. Josh Hawley’s, R-Mo., “PELOSI Act” in the Senate.
Alford’s proposed bill would ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding, purchasing or selling individual stocks while in office, but it allows investments in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds or U.S. Treasury bonds. 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.
Under the proposed legislation, lawmakers who continue to make wrongful transactions would be required to hand over any profits they made to the U.S. Treasury Department. The House or Senate ethics committees could also impose a fine on such lawmakers amounting to 10% of each wrongful transaction.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has also endorsed a stock trading ban, saying “a few bad actors” have ruined Americans’ trust in lawmakers on the issue. President Donald Trump himself endorsed the same ban for members of Congress in an interview with Time magazine last month.
“I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it,” he said of a trading ban.
CALLS TO BAN CONGRESSIONAL TRADING PERSIST AMID RECENT STOCK MARKET VOLATILITY
Photos of President Donald Trump signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House next to photos of the New York Stock Exchange as investors and markets reacted to the news of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. (Getty Images)
Democrats in the House of Representatives have also expressed support for a ban, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., throwing his weight behind the proposal last week.
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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., meanwhile, told Fox News Digital that he has an alternate solution that would allow legislators to trade stocks but would mandate that members of Congress wishing to do so to “put their money in escrow and announce the stock trade 24 hours before they make it.”
“Then they have to legally go through with the trade. So instead of not using the insider information, let’s give it to everybody and let them front run the elected officials here,” he said, smiling.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
