EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is slamming the process whereby top Democrats crafted legislation aimed at preventing lawmakers from insider trading, arguing more member input should have been considered before the final version of the STOCK Act reforms were unveiled.
In a letter sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who unveiled the framework of the bill in a recent “Dear Colleague” letter sent to members of the Democratic caucus, the Texas Republican noted that he had initially helped spearhead bipartisan legislation with Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) that aimed to prevent members from trading individual stocks but feels members should have been provided the opportunity to offer amendments in committee and further debate the measure, which may come to the floor in the coming days.
HOYER SAYS HE WON’T VOTE FOR STOCK ACT IN CURRENT FORM
“As you are aware, the House floor schedule this week contains the ‘Possible Consideration of Legislation Related to the STOCK Act.’ I am glad to see the House finally taking up the idea of reforming policies related to Member stock trading. However, as one of the original sponsors of reform language — notably introducing HR336, the TRUST in Congress Act, some 2 years ago with my Democrat colleague from Virginia, Abigail Spanberger — I was interested to see the ‘final’ language via Jake Sherman’s Twitter account last night,” he wrote.
“The state of the House of Representatives is absurd — and that is not a partisan statement,” he continued. “Like virtually every other legislative idea or proposal, we have not had any robust debate on reforms to member stock trading, or even a ‘Member Day’ hearing that would allow each member of the House to air individual views on the matter. This is a complex issue requiring thought, debate, amendment and a full airing in committee to build as much bipartisan agreement as possible rather than the normal cram-down from the top that permeates literally everything we do.”
Roy asserted that despite feeling more safeguards should be in place to prevent lawmakers from insider trading, he plans to vote against the bill “unapologetically” due to the process and said it lacks provisions addressing an array of problems that may arise if changes are made to how members can invest.
“First, the process is absurd. Second, this bill has now — as usual, and predictably — moved the scope well beyond simply restoring trust in elected representatives and now includes staff, executive branch officials, and members of the judiciary, which raises a number of complications, not the least of which is making staff have to deal with cumbersome and potentially expensive restrictions,” he added.
“Third, the bill Rep. Spanberger and I introduced was the start of a conversation that we should all want to have — but there are many complicated questions surrounding the issue we should resolve. For example, setting up blind trusts (i.e., expense, timing, quality, House administration) can be expensive. Perhaps there should be dollar thresholds considering the many implications of causing members to force sell assets, especially for less wealthy members of Congress — lest we discourage citizens from seeking to pursue public office.“
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Roy said members’ investments and their committee work have sparked strong bipartisan concerns of conflicts of interest but stressed that he feels any bill that “will impact every current and future” lawmaker should be fully vetted and discussed by the body before it is taken up for a vote.
“There is considerable merit to passing reforms to Member stock trading, as in 2021, Congress outperformed the market and bought and sold nearly $290 million in stocks, and it was recently reported that 97 lawmakers or their spouses have purchased or sold financial assets in industries that could be affected by their committee work,” the letter said.
“There are other bipartisan proposals that have been introduced beyond that which Rep. Spanberger and I introduced. Like all pieces of legislation, these proposals are imperfect, and they require input from every Member of the House before consideration. Per above, and moving forward, a number of reasonable questions surrounding these reforms that have been raised by Members must be addressed prior to any vote on respective legislation,” Roy wrote.
Pelosi’s team dismissed Roy’s concerns that the stock trading bill had not gone through the proper channels, accusing him of politicizing the issue.
“As Rep. Roy is aware, the Committee on House Administration recently held the only congressional hearing on this topic,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement. “That bipartisan hearing helped forge this proposal, which is a comprehensive proposal that bans stock trading by Members but also addresses other needed reforms. Sadly, Rep. Roy appears intent on playing partisan games rather than being part of the solution.”
