HALEY KENNINGTON: Why We Need Hawley’s Stock Trade Ban

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley deserves applause for recentlyadvancing his congressional stock trading ban from committee to the full Senate.

Notably, every Democrat on the committee voted in favor of the bill.

It’s obvious why we need this law; it would ban members of Congress, future presidents, and vice presidents, as well as their spouses, from trading or holding individual stocks while they’re in office.

We’ve all seen reports of lawmakers who vastly increase their wealth while in office, while making just $174,000 a year. But we all know who the number one offender is: former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her household’s net worth reportedlyexceeds $400 million, roughly equivalent to saving every penny of her salary since the year Alexander the Great died.

As recently as last July, her husband, Paul, sold at least $500,000 worthof Visa stock. His timing was impeccable. Paul Pelosi offloaded his shares just three weeks before Biden’s Department of Justice sued the company for allegedly monopolizing debit transactions.

The lawsuit itself was bogus and unnecessary as Visa does not have a monopoly. Consumers have numerous ways to pay for things; they do not have to use Visa. But while investors lost $30 billion when news of the lawsuit broke, well-connected individuals like Pelosi managed to save face.

So, how did Paul know when to sell his shares? Good question. There’s no clear answer, but there’s a reason Hawley originally called his bill the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act.