Ban Members of Congress from trading stocks!

Members of Congress may have profited off the pandemic using insider information. Since March 2020, momentum has been building to finally ban Members from trading individual stocks while in office — but time is running out.

House Democrats have been promising a final proposal to ban Congressional stock trading all summer. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must bring a strong proposal to the floor now, before the end of the Congressional session!

Corruption in Congress has been an issue since long before the pandemic. But in March 2020, Members’ apparent profiteering got more brazen than ever. Senator Richard Burr sold hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stocks after receiving a briefing on the severity of COVID-19.

He warned rich donors at a private luncheon of the oncoming COVID crisis — but failed to warn his constituents, or support legislative action that would remediate the crisis.

We called for Burr to be investigated by the SEC and the Senate Ethics committee. To date, he has faced no consequences for his actions. Neither have three other senators who may have profited from insider information as the pandemic was unfolding.

The current laws governing Congressional stock trading are too weak – and are rarely enforced. That’s why we need a ban on Members of Congress owning and trading all individual stocks while in office.

Members have an incentive to make the policy as weak as possible — but they’re vulnerable to grassroots pressure. We must be clear: the Congressional stock trading ban must require Members, their spouses, and their top aides to divest ALL ownership of individual stocks while in office!

Sign the petition: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must bring legislation to ban Congressional stock trading and ownership to the floor immediately!