[JustTheNews] Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Reps. Scott Perry and Brian Fitzpatrick joined an unlikely group of allies to introduce legislation in the House this week.
The “Restore Trust in Congress Act” would prohibit federal legislators from owning and trading individual stock, saying investments can cloud motivations and see elected officials profiting off of their positions.
The act brings together previously introduced legislation, including the “Restoring Faith in Government Act” put forward by Fitzpatrick earlier this year. The new bill reunites Fitzpatrick with a bipartisan group including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic Socialist known for her fiery progressivism and Perry, known for his conservatism and close ties to President Donald Trump.
According to Fitzpatrick, 97 members traded stocks tied to industries their committees oversee between 2019 and 2021. Unusual Whales, a trading news site, found through analysis of public documents that “a quarter of Congress actively traded up to $788M in various assets through 12,700+ transactions in 2022.” |