Now Hakeem Jeffries Appears to Be Sabotaging a Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock-Trading – RedState
It should never be said that the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), learned nothing from his predecessor and mentor, Nancy Pelosi. In the latest demonstration, he appears to be using an old Pelosi trick to once again obstruct efforts to ban members of Congress from stock trading.
Why, we may well wonder – in fact, we may well wonder, although I think we can probably make a pretty good guess. But Congressman Jeffries clearly doesn’t want that to happen. David Dayen of the American Prospect has some interesting ideas.
Last week, I raised concerns that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was discouraging support for a bipartisan discharge petition aimed at finally moving forward on the wildly popular policy to end stock trading in Congress. Discharge petitions signed by a majority of House members get a guaranteed floor vote. Speculation was that Jeffries would rather keep the concept of a trade ban alive for campaigning purposes (and perhaps protect Democrats who want to continue trading) rather than take advantage of the ongoing rebellion against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to make tangible progress.
I would say it’s fully confirmed now.
Confirmed, indeed; this bill, thanks to Jeffries, is now moving nowhere quickly. Under Jeffries, House Democrats filed their own discharge petition, with one key difference:
The new proposal differs from the bipartisan bill in one key respect: It extends the stock trading ban to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Whatever the considerable merits of this idea, the reality is that no Republican will ever sign on to it, meaning that the two competing discharge petitions will fail to achieve a majority.
“That’s exactly what Pelosi did a few years ago,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight, referring to the former House speaker’s approval of a 2022 trade ban that extended to the Supreme Court, also blowing up a bipartisan negotiation. “This is not only an unserious effort, it’s an attempt to undermine and kill the only bipartisan piece of legislation that’s gaining momentum. It’s truly bad faith all around.”
Frankly, I tend to agree with Mr. Dayen; the sauce for the goose is applied. If Congress is banned from doing business, I have no problem with the President and Vice President being banned as well. But that’s not the point here; the fact is that thanks to this action, the House is divided and there will now be no more bills.
No one will ever convince me that Rep. Jeffries doesn’t know that. And members of Congress are indeed becoming very rich from this practice, with Nancy Pelosi at the top of the list.
Learn more: Again? New bill would ban insider stock trading by Congress
Money President: After 38 years in Congress, Pelosi increased her stock by 16,930 percent, now worth $280 million
This is all a bit of a headache. This is a policy proposal that would almost certainly be extremely popular with voters. The party that passes this bill, which ends the use of a congressional seat as a get-rich-quick vehicle, will almost certainly see a boost in the polls that follow. But it still doesn’t happen.
Guess why?
In January 2026, it appears that Republicans in the House of Representatives will try this approach again. Honestly, this needs to happen. The possibilities for corruption, shenanigans and double dealing are simply too blatant, too obvious and too widespread. To President Johnson and House Republicans, we should all say this: Get it. This. Do.
Editor’s note: President Trump is leading America into the ‘gilded age’ as Democrats desperately try to stop him.
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