At least eight members of Congress may have broken a law regarding the timely reporting of trades in stocks and other securities, according to disclosures made in August 2024 that appear not have been made within the required deadline.
According to House and Senate financial disclosure documents analysed by Newsweek, the politicians reported financial trades later than a mandatory reporting period, leaving them liable to possible fines.
The law, which covers stocks, bonds, commodities futures and other securities, is designed to ensure that the public are aware of any trades made by elected representatives in a timely and transparent way.
Some members of Congress are now campaigning to impose a ban on all members and their immediate families from trading individual stocks, citing a risk that legislation could be influenced by their possible financial gains and that members could be involved in insider trading on the basis of being privy to information before the public.
People pass the entrance for the Wall Street subway station on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2024, in New York. A Newsweek analysis has revealed some politicians who may have failed to comply with a stock trading law.
AP Photo/Peter Morgan
Members of Congress are allowed to buy and sell stocks, but lawmakers, their spouses and dependants must publicly disclose any transactions over $1,000 within 30 days or within 45 days of receiving notice of the transaction if it has been made on their behalf, under the 2012 STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act), which also banned insider trading. Members do not need to report the value of their transactions, but must provide a broad numerical range in the periodic transaction reports (PTRs).
If a Congress member discloses their trade after the deadline, they must pay a fine of at least $200, or apply for a waiver to appeal the penalty. Repeat offenders can face increasingly higher fines. The House and Senate ethics committees enforce these fines.
“The fact that lawmakers routinely violate the STOCK Act without consequence is a clear demonstration of why stronger legislation is needed to curb congressional stock trading,” Sam D’Arcangelo, senior manager of communications at RepresentUS a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization, told Newsweek.
Newsweek found eight Democratic and Republican politicians who, either directly, or via their direct family members, reported transactions in August that fell outside of the mandatory reporting time.
The politicians are listed below:
Senate
1. Sheldon Whitehouse
Democratic Rhode Island Senator Whitehouse was a few days late to disclose the sale of stocks in three companies on July 3, 2024. The filing came on August 21, 2024. Two trades, one by himself and another by his spouse, were in the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, and one was a trade of shares in fast-food monolith McDonald’s. Three other trades, one in Walt Disney Company and two in consumer packaged goods firm Conagra Brands were disclosed within the mandatory reporting period.
A spokesperson for Whitehouse told Newsweek: “The filing was delayed by a few days as a result of a communications gap between outside firms. The Senator does not trade stocks, and his account manager acts independently without any input from the Senator.
“There has not been any fee,” the spokesperson added, in reference to potential fines arising from the breach.
Pennsylvania Democrat Fetterman was responsible for over 30 trades of various corporate bonds that were made in 2023, according to a disclosure on August 13, 2024. It said the trades were on behalf of his dependent children.
Fetterman did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
House of Representatives
Arizona Democrat Gallego purchased shares in two companies, one in the investment advisory Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC on August 27, 2019 and one in the education firm NameCoach on June 14, 2022. He reported both of these trades on August 13, 2024.
A spokesperson for Gallego told Newsweek: “Rep. Gallego believes elected officials should be transparent and accountable to the people they represent, which is why he has co-sponsored legislation to clean up Washington and implement stricter disclosure requirements. These investments were disclosed in previous filings and the recently filed report corrects inadvertent errors.”
Gallego reported his investment in Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC in his 2021 annual report and his NameCoach stock in his 2022 annual report, disclosures show, but not in previous PTRs.
2. Sean Casten
Illinois Democrat Casten purchased shares in carbon removal company MYNO Carbon Corporation on April 22, 2024, October 31, 2023 and November 30, 2023 but did not disclose these until August 9, 2024. His father is on the board of the company.
In March 2022, he called on Congress to ban stock trades among members in an address to the House, saying he did not own or trade individual stocks.
Casten did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
3. Stephanie Bice
Bice, a Republican representative for Oklahoma, reported two U.S. Treasury bill purchases on June 22, 2023 and September 27, 2023 made through a trust. Each was worth between $15,0001 and $50,000. She reported these trades on August 10, 2024.
Bice did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
4. David Joyce
Ohio Republican Joyce made 6 trades, both selling and buying stocks in 2022 and 2023. He reported these trades, including in aviation company Boeing, on August 6, 2024.
Joyce did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
5. Jared Moskowitz
Florida Democrat Moskowitz made over 80 late disclosures of trades in companies including PepsiCo, T-Mobile and Nike at various points in 2023 and 2024 and reported them in two reports, one on August 6, 2024 and another on August 21, 2024.
A spokesperson for Moskowitz blamed technical problems for issues with Moskowitz’s accounts.
“The required fine was paid even though a waiver could have been granted; one was not requested by the Congressman,” the spokesperson said.
6. Greg Landsman
On August 14, 2024, Landsman, an Ohio Democrat disclosed over 80 late trades of shares in companies including Uber, Microsoft and Apple in 2023.
Landsman did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
Newsweek contacted the clerk of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics by website form for comment. The House Committee on Ethics, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the SEC declined to comment.
Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel, and senior director, ethics at the non-partisan democracy campaign group Campaign Legal Center (CLC) said the trades were symptomatic of a troubling trend.
“Many lawmakers disclose their stock trades many months late, knowing that they will only face a $200 penalty,” he said. “Late reports defeat the purpose of the STOCK Act.”
In July, a bipartisan group of senators proposed a new version of a measure called the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act which would ban members of Congress and their immediate family members from trading individual stocks.
“Trust in Congress is at an all-time low, and ending this practice is essential if we’re going to even begin restoring it,” said Sam D’Arcangelo of RepresentUS.
