Biden avoids wading into the congressional stock trading debate

WASHINGTON — As several proposals in Congress to prohibit members from trading stocks gain steam this week on Capitol Hill, President Joe Biden has chosen not to take sides in a debate that could divide his fellow Democrats.

While Biden “believes that everyone should be held to the highest standard,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday, “he’ll let members of leadership in Congress and members of Congress determine what the rules should be” about stock trades.

Psaki’s remarks were in response to a direct question about where Biden himself stands on the issue, which she did not reveal. She did, however, note that the president did not trade individual stocks while he was a member of the Senate from 1973-2009.

The issue of whether or not members of Congress should be allowed to trade individual stocks has been simmering on Capitol Hill since 2020, when the Justice Department investigated Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. on suspicion of insider trading.

As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr sold $1.3 million of stock in mid-February, while he was receiving classified briefings on the coming Covid pandemic. Burr was ultimately not charged with a crime.

In recent weeks the issue has gained a new momentum, spurred by growing public support for a ban and new reporting on how widespread violations are of the current law, the 2012 STOCK Act, which was designed to prevent insider trading and conflicts of interest in Congress.

Last year alone, a total of 54 members violated the STOCK Act rules, according to an analysis by Business Insider’s Dave Levinthal published earlier this month.

There are growing signs that the public supports a ban, too. A recent survey commissioned by a conservative advocacy found that 76% of voters believed that lawmakers and their spouses had an “unfair advantage” in the stock market. The same survey, conducted by the Convention of States Action, also found that just 5% of likely voters approved of members of Congress trading stocks.

During the past week, several members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, House members and senators have introduced legislation that would effectively ban lawmakers and their immediate family members from actively trading stocks while the member is in office.

In the House, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia and Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican have co-sponsored the TRUST Act, which would require members of Congress to put their investments into a blind trust while in office.

On January 12, two Senate Democrats, Jon Ossoff (Ga.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.) introduced a companion bill to the TRUST Act, the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act.

That same day, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced his own congressional stock trading…