A Senate committee advanced a bill to ban stock trades by lawmakers, presidents and vice presidents despite opposition from all Republicans on the panel but Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who introduced the legislation.
The hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday at times generated tense exchanges between Hawley, his Republican colleagues and the panel’s Democrats, particularly over whether the bill would take effect before President Trump leaves office.
“I know more about technology in my pinky than you do,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) snapped at Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) during a dispute over amendments to the legislation that came in electronically.
The bill would ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stock, requiring them to gradually divest their holdings, as well as the president and vice president — but only for future administrations.
“I will oppose the substitute change because I think it should apply to everybody, or nobody,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who also voted against the final passage. “To exempt Donald Trump from this is crazy.”
Republicans argued that the ban could discourage businesspeople or the wealthy from holding office, with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) calling it “legislative demagoguery.”
“We can ban stock trading for Congress, but don’t give more weapons to Democrats to attack President Trump,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said toward the end of the 90-minute hearing.
Trump slammed the bill in a Wednesday Truth Social post, calling it “playing right into the dirty hands of Democrats.”
“I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the “whims” of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley,” he wrote.
It’s unclear whether GOP leadership will allow the bill to go to a vote. A similar bill passed the same committee last summer but never made it to the floor.
The House is also making noise about a potential stock ban, with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) vowing to file a discharge petition to force a vote on such a prohibition.
Updated at 5:27 p.m. EDT
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