In early 2020, then-Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and retiring Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) made headlines for buying and selling millions of dollars' worth of stock after being warned about the coming impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in a closed-door meeting. [1]

We elect members of Congress to represent our interests and serve their constituents, not so that they can use their insider access to information to make a quick buck. But when these senators allegedly took advantage of their insider information, the situation raised serious questions about Congress’ ability to uphold that bedrock principle – and undermined Americans’ faith in our democratic process.

This is an extreme example of the inevitable conflicts of interest that come with allowing members of Congress to own and trade stocks while in office.

Unless much stronger rules are set and penalties increased, some bad-apple lawmakers will always be tempted to put their own financial gain over the public good. And even law-abiding officials will be caught up in a system that leaves the rest of us questioning our lawmakers’ intentions.

Right now, lawmakers are responding to growing grassroots pressure on this issue. At least 10 bills have been introduced in Congress – by Republicans and Democrats alike – that propose various limits on the ability for members to trade stocks.

We need to make sure that the final bill is thorough and deliberate – and addresses issues like stock trading by federal judges, which can also lead to corruption.

As Congress continues to debate this issue, Common Cause will fight to ensure that the public interest – not private gain – is always officials’ first and foremost duty. We hope we can count on your support.

If you believe that members of Congress shouldn’t get to choose between serving the people or using their official position and access to information to make major profits from the stock market, add your name today.  

1) https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/20/politics/senate-stocks-kelly-loeffler-coronavirus/index.html