Despite bipartisan support for prohibiting members of Congress from buying and holding individual stocks in office, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday that lawmakers should be allowed to make trades while serving.
Pelosi told reporters that the economy is a free market one. They should be able to participate.
Pelosi supports banning lawmakers from the practice.
Members of Congress should not buy or sell individual stock and other assets because they have access to information that the public does not, according to a new proposal. She supports members of Congress investing in index funds.
Last week, she wrote on social media, "I choose not to hold any so I can remain impartial about policy making."
She said she wanted to do her job ethically and impartially.
It comes in the wake of a series of scandals involving federal lawmakers and government officials.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Sen. Richard Burr for trades he made in the early days of the swine flu.
The Fed banned officials from owning individual stocks and bonds in October after two officials resigned following allegations of insider trading.
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act, prohibits members of Congress from trading on nonpublic information, and during the press conference, Pelosi noted that lawmakers need to follow that law.
She said that if people aren't reporting stock trades, they should be.
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Lawmakers should trade individual stocks while in office. Both Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said no.
