The potential conflicts of interest that is presented by legislators being able to involve themselves in the stock market, while having the power to influence public policy and thereby sway the performance of their investments, are being addressed by Republicans in the House.

This issue has grown in the mind of the public for some time, as stories of lavish expenses by politicians who would not be able to afford such a quality of life on their salaries alone.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), for example, receives a salary of approximately $220,000 but owns a $15 million home in San Francisco. How exactly does that work? Well, Pelosi has engaged in practices such as stock trading. 

In 2022, the New York Post reported that Pelosi and her husband, Paul, garnered as much as $30 million from stocks, including Google, Salesforce, Micron Technology and Roblox. Interestingly, Pelosi has, at one point or another, introduced bills to regulate such technological companies. 

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) has had enough of people like Pelosi taking advantage of the stock trading system. 

Fallon recently introduced the Insider Trading Prevention Act that would bar members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks, as reported by the Daily Caller.

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Pat Fallon Introduces Legislation Preventing Members, Spouses From Buying Or Selling Individual Stocks

Read the bill and more here first for @DailyCaller: https://t.co/ni6YyASrMQ

— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) November 1, 2023

Should members like Pelosi continue such an unscrupulous practice, they would be fined $25,000, at minimum, if Fallon’s bill passes.  

“In 2022, nearly 100 Members of Congress violated the STOCK Act, a bill, which was intended to prevent insider trading,” Fallon told the Daily Caller. 

“One of the worst offenders, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has seen her assets increase to the tune of $140 million since the Great Recession. It’s reasons like this that the American people are losing faith in their elected officials and our republic,” he added. 

“Undoubtedly, some members seek to use their position to enrich themselves and their families. Still more make honest mistakes trying to navigate the often confusing reporting requirements. A cottage industry has sprung up in the media, often ignoring bad actors and instead excoriating innocent oversights for partisan reasons,” he continued. 

Most Americans believe that politicians like Pelosi should stop engaging in stock trading while in office. In part, they believe this because politicians are elected to make their constituents’ lives better, not their own. 

A Trafalgar Group/Convention of States Action poll from January 2023 showed that 76% of Americans believe their representatives in Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks.