Sen. Kelly Loeffler requested to leave a Senate subcommittee focused on commodities, risk management, and trade to avoid potential criticism over her personal financial dealings.
The Georgia Republican faced backlash last month when it was revealed she had sold off stock shares before the financial market plummeted from the coronavirus outbreak.
Loeffler came under scrutiny along with Sens. Richard Burr, Dianne Feinstein, and Jim Inhofe, who also sold large stock sales before the drop. The timing led many to consider whether the lawmakers used insider knowledge from their positions in Congress to benefit themselves financially before the economic fallout brought on by the global pandemic.
The subcommittee Loeffler is seeking recusal from falls under the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, of which she is still a member. A spokesperson for Loeffler told the Daily Caller, which first reported the news on Wednesday, that the senator is taking steps to show transparency and has liquidated her third-party managed stock portfolio in addition to requesting removal from the panel.
“Loeffler previously said she would recuse herself on a case by case basis, but it’s now abundantly clear that the media and Sen. Loeffler’s adversaries will stop at nothing to attack her and take away from the important work taking place during this public healthcare crisis,” the spokesperson said. “The senator continues to serve on the full Agriculture Committee, and her focus remains on delivering results and relief for Georgia’s farmers and all hard-working families across the state.”
Among her critics include her GOP challenger Rep. Doug Collins, who is seeking to take her seat in a special election in November. An April poll by the Republican-leaning Battleground Connect found Loeffler trailing Collins significantly and closely following her Democratic challenger, Raphael Warnock.
“What about the Agriculture Committee? The Joint Economic Committee? The U.S. Senate?” Dan McLagan, a representative for Collins, said to Politico after Loeffler’s announcement. “She has five conflicts of interest before her first chai latte every day, and her campaign is starting to look like a Saturday Night Live sketch.”
Loeffler also received a $9 million payout when she left a publicly traded company run by her husband before joining Congress.
