Outside of the elite media bubble, one political topic that comes up time and again is the corruption posed by lawmakers trading stocks in the companies they regulate through their legislation. While this issue gets occasional play from the good government groups in Washington, it’s a constant theme on podcasts like Joe Rogan, where Nancy Pelosi’s net worth is a frequent topic of conversation, and on popular X finance accounts like WatcherGuru, Quiver Quantitative, and Unusual Whales, channels that reach millions of people on a daily basis.
For whatever reason, those accounts have repeatedly highlighted Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) calls to ban congressional stock trading, even though Khanna is just one of dozens of reps who have publicly taken that position. Just last Friday, for example, the 2.6-million-follower account WatcherGuru posted about a tweet Khanna put out on the topic, prompting a proposal from Khanna to become a trending X topic.
Here’s the X post from Khanna that caught fire:
It’s time to clean up corruption in Washington. Let’s pass my bill to:
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) December 27, 2024
- Ban PAC & lobbyists donations
- Ban members from becoming lobbyists
- Ban stock trading by members of Congress
- Enact term limits for Congress & SCOTUS
- Enact a code of ethics for SCOTUS
Khanna’s bill that he is calling on Congress to pass, H. Res. 938, says, “Members of Congress should not be able to hold, unless in a blind trust, and trade stocks while retaining access to confidential information or crafting policies, as this leads to conflicts of interest, corruption, and even the possibility of insider trading.” It also notes that “Over 80 percent of Americans across political parties support a ban on Members of Congress holding and trading stocks.”
