Speaker Johnson backs congressional stock trading ban but doesn't commit to vote

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday backed a bipartisan push to ban congressional stock trading, but he stopped short of promising a vote.

“I’m in favor of that because I don’t think we should have any appearance of impropriety,” the Louisiana Republican said.

Various Republicans and Democrats have teamed up for years on bipartisan bills to limit congressional stock trading. Some have proposed full bans on members of Congress holding stock, while others have proposed lawmakers instead invest through a blind trust where they wouldn’t be privy to the specific holdings and could avoid any conflicts of interest.

“We’re going to be voting on a stock trade ban for congressional members this year. That’s gonna have to happen,” Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, one of the proponents involved in the bipartisan push, told reporters this month.

But on Wednesday, the speaker didn’t commit to a vote, despite personally siding with those who want a ban.

“I understand people that have misgivings about that,” he said. “So we’ll see where it lands.”

Mr. Johnson empathized with opponents who argue that investing in the stock market can help members of Congress supplement their salaries, which have been frozen since 2009 and lost 31% of purchasing power when adjusted for inflation.

“Over time, if you stay on this trajectory, you are going to have less qualified people who are willing to make the extreme sacrifice to run for Congress,” he said.

Still, the speaker said Congress “probably should” ban themselves from stock trading because it’s been abused.

“Sadly, a few bad actors discolor it for everyone,” Mr. Johnson said. “And look, we have no tolerance for anything even resembling insider trading or any of this kind of advantage that anybody could take. Zero tolerance for it — and we’ll stamp it out ourselves.”

Mr. Johnson didn’t name specific bad actors, but Republicans have frequently pointed to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. While the California Democrat doesn’t personally own any stock, her husband has an active trading portfolio that has drawn complaints about potential conflicts of interest.

“I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be OK with it,” President Trump told Time magazine last month when asked if he would support a congressional stock trading ban. “If they send that to me, I would do it.”

Democrats, meanwhile, accused Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of potential insider trading for her stock buys just before Mr. Trump announced a pause on reciprocal tariffs, which ignited a market rally.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, accused Ms. Greene of engaging in “corruption” as he endorsed a stock trading ban in an MSNBC interview last month.

“We do need to change the law so that sitting members of Congress cannot trade stock. Period. Full stop,” he said. “And until we get to that point, we obviously have to continue to highlight why this is problematic.”