Kevin McCarthy has announced that a ban on members of Congress trading stock could be a reality if Republicans take the House.
Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul have repeatedly been under fire over the last few years for making major stock trades just prior to the passing/pushing of legislation that affects those stocks.
Many believe that Pelosi is someone who practices Insider Trading, which is a crime. Insider Trading occurs when the trader has an advantage due to knowledge of non-public or confidential information.
This is the type of information that members of Congress often have to be privy to. This has led many to the stance that senators and representatives shouldn’t be able to trade stock at all while holding office.
A person of Congress holding a stock can also serve as a conflict of interest; causing the individual to vote for the betterment of their stock portfolio rather than their constituents.
McCarthy notes that nothing yet is finalized but confirmed to the Daily Caller that he is in fact considering limiting trading ability or barring it altogether.
Pelosi has on the contrary defended the idea of congressmen and women trading. She claims that they should be able to “participate in the free market economy”.