Mike Johnson Says He Opposes Bill Banning Lawmakers From Stock Trading

Amid pressure from both Democrats and members of his own party, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Louisiana) insisted he was in favor of stricter rules regarding insider trading in Congress, but stopped short of expressing support for an outright ban on stock trading for lawmakers.

The statement from Johnson, reported on by Punchbowl News’s Jake Sherman, comes as Republican lawmakers have begun a discharge petition that would force a vote on the matter.

“We don’t want people cheating the system and abusing their office,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “So there’s probably a way to do that that still allows for lawful conduct by members.”

But he claimed he opposed a ban because it might lead to fewer people wanting to become lawmakers.

“You don’t want another deterrence for good people running for office,” Johnson said.

As speaker of the House, Johnson can block any piece of legislation from reaching the House floor for consideration. But a procedural rule called a discharge petition allows lawmakers to bypass the speaker by attaining enough signatures — in this case, 218 total — to force a vote.

The idea has gained popularity after a similar discharge petition, requiring the federal government to release files relating to the investigation into alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, was successful last month.

A bipartisan bill on banning lawmakers from owning, buying, or trading stocks is co-sponsored by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island). In addition to lawmakers, the bill also forbids their spouses, children, and trustees from dealing with stocks.

On Tuesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) introduced a discharge petition to get the bill to a floor vote.

It’s unclear whether the move will be successful — while it has bipartisan support, there is also likely to be some bipartisan opposition to the bill, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle regularly trade in stocks, with dozens having been identified as being in violation of current transparency laws.

But pressure is mounting to get the bill passed into law, including from former lawmakers, 90 of whom signed an open letter this week calling for stock trading among members of Congress to be banned.

“The American people understand that our elected lawmakers cannot be both the referee and the player — that presents a clear conflict of interest. Even the appearance of self-dealing does damage,” the letter-writers said.

Most Americans, by and large, agree. A University of Maryland School of Public Policy poll from 2023 asked respondents whether they favored or opposed a proposal to “prohibit members of Congress (in the House and Senate)…from trading stocks in individual companies.”

Among all Americans, 86 percent are in favor of the idea. But a ban on stock trading is also supported by voters across all ideological stripes, including 88 percent of Democratic-leaning voters, 87 percent of Republican-leaning voters, and 81 percent of independent voters. Similar numbers supported banning key figures from other branches of government from owning stocks, too — including the president, vice president, and Supreme Court justices.