Biden’s Call For Congressional Stock Ban Seen As Dig At Pelosi
A Republican senator suggested that President Joe Biden’s recent call for a ban on congressional stock trading might be aimed at former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has faced scrutiny over her husband’s lucrative investment history.
“I don’t think (Biden) and Nancy Pelosi are getting along very well right now after Pelosi fired him from being president,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told Alabama Daily News. “I don’t know how she was able to do that, but she convinced him to get out of the race, which he should have, but it was her.”
Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, have garnered attention for achieving some of the best stock market returns among members of Congress, with their trades reportedly yielding over 720% in the past decade. As of August, the couple’s estimated net worth exceeds $230 million, according to the outlet.
Pelosi has historically been hesitant to endorse a total ban on congressional stock trading. In 2021, she stated, “We are a free market economy,” and defended the right of lawmakers to “participate in that.”
Tuberville speculated about the timing of Biden’s announcement. “I think while she’s laying up somewhere in Germany—she unfortunately fell and hurt her leg (and) had to have an operation—he decided while she was gone, after 50 years by the way of him being up there in Washington, D.C., (that) now it’s time, as I’m going out the door, to stop stock trading,” Tuberville said.
Tuberville, who has also seen financial success in the stock market, maintained that he does not directly manage his investments. “I’ve said all along that I don’t get anything up here that gives me an opportunity to make money on stocks any more than anybody,” he explained. “I don’t do it myself, I’ve got people that do it. I don’t get involved in that, I don’t understand what’s the big deal. I guess there are people that have made money somehow, some way; I didn’t come up here to do that.”
President Biden expressed his support for banning congressional stock trading in an interview previewed Tuesday, conducted by the left-leaning labor advocacy group More Perfect Union.
Democratic strategist Lindy Li also weighed in during a Friday appearance on Fox News, suggesting Biden “still has a bone to pick” with Pelosi, as reported by Newsweek. Li, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) finance committee, claimed that Biden’s endorsement of the stock trading ban—an action that could significantly impact Pelosi, whom she described as “notorious” for stock trades—might be motivated by unresolved tensions with the former speaker.
Reports indicate Pelosi played a key role behind the scenes in persuading Biden to step aside from the 2024 presidential race nearly 100 days before the election. “The president is still very angry that he was summarily pushed aside,” Li stated.
In the interview, Biden told Faiz Shakir, a political adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, that “nobody in the Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they’re in the Congress.” He continued, “I don’t know how you look your constituents in the eye and know, because the job they gave you, gave you an inside track to make more money.”
During her appearance on Fox News @ Night with Kevin Corke, Li remarked that “it took him 50 years to get to that point.” She speculated that Biden’s newfound support for a stock trading ban might stem from lingering grievances with Pelosi, whom he believes pushed him out of the presidential race.