Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have actually introduced a bipartisan strategy to prohibit members of Congress, senior authorities throughout the executive branch, and their family members from holding and trading stocks.
Hawley and Gillibrand announced this week prepares to submit the “Restriction Stock Trading for Federal Government Officials Act” which would, to name a few things, restrict members of Congress, the president, vice president, senior executive branch members, and their spouses and dependents from holding or trading stocks.
Also, the plan makes no exception for blind trusts while imposing heavy penalties for members of Congress who stop working to comply with the requirements. Those who are found to breach the requirements would need to pay at least 10 percent of the value of the forbidden investments.
“Political leaders and civil servants shouldn’t invest their time day-trading and trying to earn a profit at the expense of the American public, but that’s precisely what a lot of are doing,” Hawley stated in a declaration:
My bill with Senator Gillibrand prevails sense: Ban elected and executive branch officials from trading or holding stocks, and put the American public first.
In addition to members of Congress, the plan would need senior executive officials to disgorge benefit from covered monetary interests to the Treasury Department.
Likewise, members of Congress, senior congressional staff, the president, vice president, and senior executive officials would be required to report whenever they, a partner, or a dependent makes an application for or gets a benefit of worth from the federal government– including loans, contracts, agreements, grants, and payments.
The legislation follows Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm incorrectly informed lawmakers that she did not hold stocks when, in fact, she did.
Last month, as Breitbart News reported, Granholm told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in a letter that she and her other half had actually held specific stocks in business that her department supervises– as recently as May of this year.
The admission came more than a month after Granholm wrongly affirmed prior to the committee that she did not hold individual stocks, stating “No, I’m invested in mutual funds” when Hawley asked, “Do you own specific stocks, Madam Secretary?”
Granholm, in 2021, reportedly breachedthe STOCK Act when she stopped working to correctly report 9 stock trades, including her selling shares of Uber, Redfin, and Gilead Sciences Inc., which takes pleasure in financially rewarding government contracts.
Prohibiting members of Congress, senior executive officials, and their member of the family from trading stocks is hugely popular amongst Americans.
In 2015, a Trafalgar Group survey exposed that 76 percentthink Congress has an “unreasonable benefit” when it comes to the stock market. Just five percent assistance allowing congressional stock trading.
John Binder is a press reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.