U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan has signed on to a petition that would force a House vote on a bill to ban congressional stock trading and force members to sell stocks they already own.
The discharge petition would only force a House vote if 218 members sign it. Bresnahan became the 37th signer Dec. 10. As of late Tuesday, 71 members, Democrats and Republicans, had signed, far short of the number necessary.
“This will give members and Americans alike the framework needed to offer transparency and accountability in Congress,” Bresnahan said in a statement released Tuesday evening by his office.
Hannah Pope, Bresnahan’s spokeswoman, said he would vote for the bill, known as Congressional Stock Trading Act, which would restrict stock trades more tightly than a bill he introduced in May.
Bresnahan’s bill would ban stock trades by members of Congress or their spouses unless the trades are done within a blind trust. His bill has gone nowhere as longer-tenured House members push for an alternative.
The bill at the center of the discharge petition isn’t that alternative.
It was authored by Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, who introduced it in March. Rep. Anna Luna, a Florida Republican, filed the discharge petition Dec. 2.
Bresnahan's previous statements
Last year, as he ran for Congress, Bresnahan called for a ban on congressional stock trading, but he has become one of the most prolific traders since taking office in January.
Bresnahan has repeatedly said he does not tell his financial advisors what stocks to buy and sell. In a July interview with WVIA News, Bresnahan said he did not plan to tell his advisers to stop trading stocks.
“And then do what with it?” he asked. “Just leave it all in the accounts and just leave it there and lose money and go broke?”
Bresnahan has told his financial advisors to halt active management of his stocks until Congress takes action, a spokesperson confirmed.
Under the bill targeted for a discharge vote, members of Congress would have to sell off their stocks within 180 days of the act taking effect.
They could still take the money and invest in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. These funds hold a variety of assets such as stocks, bonds or commodities, and are traded on stock exchanges like individual company stocks.
