US Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s changing position on members of Congress trading stocks was a testament to the public attention campaign on the subject, which has sought to put pressure on lawmakers who potentially invest based on privileged information.
The New York Democrat who identifies as a socialist made the remarks on a press call with fellow Reps Joe Neguse of Colorado and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois as well as Sens Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jeff Merkley. The legislation is the latest proposal from numerous members of both House and Senate who have proposed multiple bills to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
“I think that the Speaker’s openness on this position is really a testament to the fact that public attention and pressure can move public policy from the bottom all the way to the top,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. “And I applaud the Speaker’s openness and her willingness to listen to the caucus.”
Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s words come the day after Ms Pelosi opened the door to potentially changing the rules, but at the same time, specified she also wanted the a ban on trading to be government-wide.
“The judiciary has no reporting, the Supreme Court has no disclosure, it has no disclosure of stock transactions and it makes important decisions every day,” Ms Pelosi said during her weekly press conference. “If that’s what members want to do, then that’s what we will do.”
Ms Pelosi also called for tighter enforcement of the STOCK Act, which prevents members of Congress from using nonpublic information for stock trading. Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she believes from her conversation with leadership that she wants a process that is as open and transparent as possible.
“There are many technical issues with the STOCK Act,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. “The fact that this legislation would ban individual trades, that doesn’t necessarily mean it repeals the STOCK Act.”
Ms Ocasio-Cortez said those concerns were why she and her allies want to pursue a public process.
“And I do believe that the Speaker is very responsive and receptive to the caucus and if the caucus comes to a point, I believe, the Speaker has shown a willingness just to honor the conclusions that the caucus comes to on different issues,” she said.
