Dozens of U.S. lawmakers and their families have bought and sold up to $113 million worth of stock in major Pentagon contractors this year, an analysis released Wednesday revealed.
The Quincy Institute for Responsible Politics reports that at least 37 members of Congress and their relatives own stakes worth between $24 million and $113 million in companies listed in the Defense and Security Monitor’s Top 100 Defense Contractors Index. He revealed that he was trading.
As noted by the Quincy Institute, “Eight of these members concurrently held positions on the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, the committees that oversee defense policy and foreign relations. The annual National Defense Bill Lawmakers who oversee and are familiar with intelligence community meetings have an advantage in predicting future stock prices.”
The analysis found that a single Democrat accounted for the vast majority of defense stock trades in 2024.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey traded at least $22 million and up to $104 million worth of stock in index companies including Microsoft, Northrop Grumman and IBM. Gottheimer, who said his transactions are handled by third-party companies, serves on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Financial Services Committee’s National Security Subcommittee.
(Image: Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft/Datawrapper)
A close second was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has championed stock trading by lawmakers and, according to Quincey, “sold $1 million worth of Microsoft stock in late July.” That’s what it means.
“The timing of Ms. Pelosi’s Microsoft deals in the past also drew attention, in March 2021, less than two weeks after the Army announced a $22 billion deal with a software company to supply augmented reality headsets. , Pelosi bought a call option on Microsoft.” state.
“According to Quiver Quantitative, Ms. Pelosi was the most profitable of all members of Congress in 2024, earning an estimated $38.6 million from all stock trading activity,” the report adds.
Pelosi was followed by Rep. Susan DelBene (D-Wash.), Rep. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) and Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R.N.J.).
The Quincy Institute says, “If Congress wants to rid itself of conflicts of interest, it can start by passing a ban on stock trading. It would prohibit trading in individual stocks.” ”
The ethics law was approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July. The Republican-controlled Senate, which starts next month, has not yet voted on the bill.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden supported a ban on stock trading in Congress, arguing that “nobody in Congress should be able to make money in the stock market,” earning praise from progressive lawmakers. .
On Monday, Biden signed the Military Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act totaling $895 billion for fiscal year 2025. As Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) emphasized, “Of that nearly $1 trillion…about half goes to a small number of defense contractors who are making huge profits.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) decried both the size of the military budget and the fact that some of her colleagues profit from investments in the military-industrial complex.
Mr. Tlaib has issued a new law that prohibits members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading in defense stocks or having financial interests in companies that do business with the U.S. Department of Defense. Introduced the Prevention Act.
In 2012, Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK), which has been criticized as weak and ineffective.
