Landsman pushes for ban on stock trading in Congress to rebuild trust

By Greg Landsman, U.S. Rep (Ohio 1)

My wife and I just sold every single one of our individual stocks. We did so because we know that public trust is essential and yet so many no longer trust their government. 

This is the same reason I pushed for the first-ever Office of Good Government at Cincinnati City Hall several years ago. 

Public trust in government has been low for years with only 22% of Americans agreeing elected officials are working in their best interest, but few issues unite people like this one – more than 80% of Americans think members of Congress shouldn’t be trading stocks.

Some lawmakers have used insider information to gain financially and have been convicted in the past. It’s wrong, and with reforms, we can fix this and begin to rebuild trust. In Congress, I’m leading this effort by cosponsoring the bipartisan Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act.

The TRUST in Congress Act is designed to end insider trading and requires members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependent children, to either divest from individual stocks or place their investments in an arrangement where they have no knowledge of or control over how the assets are managed.

While the Trust in Congress Act is not yet law, I made the decision to become fully compliant with the legislation because of how important this is. Earlier this year, my wife and I started the long process of selling every single one of our individual stocks and reinvesting them in mutual and exchange-traded funds that we do not control.

I’m likely one of the first members of Congress to do this, but hopefully others follow our lead. It was an expensive process, but the right thing to do. I know Americans see a system that’s broken, and I’m determined to be part of the generation that fixes it.

There’s been renewed momentum this year around banning stock trading in Congress, but the bill has not been voted on yet.

Instead, Congress has been focused almost entirely on a budget bill that gives tax breaks to the super wealthy and big corporate investors at the expense of everyone else. More than 14 million Americans will lose health care and millions more will lose food assistance. Plus, this budget would add trillions to the deficit.

This kind of budget bill could be a reason why nearly 80 of Americans lack trust in their government. Members of Congress continuing to trade stocks absolutely doesn’t help. 

I do believe we can restore faith in politics and government by making it clear we only work for you. Getting members of Congress out of the stock-trading business – and free from the influence of big money interests – will be a big part of the solution.

I want every one of my constituents to know that my focus is entirely on serving them. That’s why I’m not only leading on these reforms but practicing what I preach. I want other members of Congress to see what we did and follow our lead – and to join me in passing the Trust in Congress Act.