President Donald Trump called for an investigation into an old foe when asked about a bill to ban stock trading among members of Congress.
“What I do think is Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) should be investigated,” Trump said Monday when asked about the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act. “She has the highest return of anybody, practically, in the history of Wall Street, save a few. How did that happen? It happened because she knows exactly what’s going to happen.”
Pelosi, who was Speaker of the House during the final two years of Trump’s first term, is one of the richest members of Congress with a net worth estimated at over $250 million. Her family’s stock trading has stirred controversy in Washington for years.
“She made a fortune with her husband, and I think that’s disgraceful,” Trump added. “Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is backing the so-called PELOSI Act, which would ban members of Congress from trading or even holding individual stocks.
“Americans have watched politicians earn a fortune using information not available to the general public while the average family struggles to get by. It’s just wrong,” Hawley has said of the bill, which recently advanced out of committee. “Members of Congress should be focused on delivering results for their constituents, not returns on investments.”
Trump did not endorse the bill directly, but said he likes it “conceptually” before turning the subject toward Pelosi.
However, Axios reported that the final bill may include the president and vice president along with lawmakers, which sparked pushback from the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. One workaround may be for the bill to only apply to future elected officials at the start of their terms, meaning that Trump himself would be exempted.
Trump has previously expressed support for the bill, though he was more demure about it on Wednesday.
Democrats have raised plenty of their own concerns about Trump’s moneymaking in office, such as his cryptocurrency dealings this year, and have introduced a bill that would prevent the president and other lawmakers from sponsoring crypto.
Pelosi’s office denied the allegations of insider trading.
Is a blue wave even possible? A way too early look at the midterm elections
“Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” Pelosi spokesman Ian Krager said.
Pelosi has also indicated she would support a stock trading ban if it reached the House floor.
“If legislation is advanced to help restore trust in government and ensure that those in power are held to the highest ethical standards,” Pelosi said, “then I am proud to support it — no matter what they decide to name it.”
Trump made his comments during a bill signing ceremony for the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act.
The law, passed by Congress this month, attempts to help veterans who are encountering problems repaying their home loan because of, for example, high interest rates, while still protecting taxpayers’ investment in the Department of Veteran Affairs’ home loan program.
“We are modernizing the VA home loan program and creating a safety net for veterans in financial hardship,” a White House official told the Washington Examiner. “This legislation codifies the Trump administration and VA Secretary [Doug] Collins’ leadership that ended the Biden-Harris administration’s [Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase] program, a program that funneled billions of taxpayer dollars towards bailouts for lenders.”
Collins defended his dismantling of the VASP program during a contentious House hearing in May, after announcing that he was dismantling it in April. The mortgage rescue initiative has assisted more than 17,000 veterans notto foreclose on their homes since it was introduced by former President Joe Biden last year, but has cost the federal government $5.5 billion worth of loans.
“I have one purpose and one purpose alone, and that is to make the VA exactly what it’s supposed to be,” Collins told the House Veterans Affairs Committee at the time. “And that is to take care of our veterans and do so in the most efficient and effective way.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), the co-sponsor of the replacement VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, marked the passage of the bill by the Senate this month, saying “the time for faceless bureaucrats to run roughshod over elected officials is over.” The House passed the measure in May.
“My bill offers a real solution to help every servicemember and veteran maintain the American Dream of homeownership,” Van Orden wrote in a statement this month.