16 watchdog groups demand Joe Biden 'publicly and actively' push Congress to ban lawmaker stock trades

• 16 watchdog groups are demanding that Joe Biden push Congress to ban stock trades by its members.
• An Insider investigation published in December found widespread violations of conflicts of interest law.

President Joe Biden must "publicly and actively" push Congress to ban its members from trading individual stocks, a coalition of 16 reform advocates, government watchdog groups, and political organizations wrote Tuesday in a letter to the president.

"President Biden, you promised the American people that you would advocate for them by pushing Congress to free itself from being influenced by their personal financial holdings," the coalition wrote Tuesday. "Supporting the effort to end the inherent conflict of interest stock trading presents would allow you to fulfill your promise and advance an important bipartisan priority."

Signatories include the Campaign Legal Center, Center for American Progress, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Indivisible, National Taxpayers Union, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Project on Government Oversight, Public Citizen, Reform for Illinois, RepresentUs, Stand Up America, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Transparency International, US.

Government ethics scholar Norman Ornstein and American University distinguished professor James Thurber also signed the letter.

Insider's "Conflicted Congress" investigation, initially published in December, found that 60 lawmakers and at least 182 senior-level congressional staffers have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012 by failing to disclose their stock transactions within a timely manner.

"Conflicted Congress" also found numerous examples of conflicts of interest among federal lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans.

Since then, lawmakers from both parties have introduced several bills to limit or ban lawmakers' trading of individual stocks or otherwise increase financial transaction transparency and strengthen fines for violating existing law. But after a congressional hearing in April on the matter, progress has slowed as lawmakers attempt to craft a single bill that could pass on the floors of both the House and Senate.

All the while, Biden has said little about banning members of Congress from trading stocks.

Biden reportedly planned to publicly support such a measure during his State of the Union address but didn't. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki earlier this year punted the stock-trade question to Congress. Meanwhile, some Democrats have grown frustrated with the president for not being more outspoken.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"His silence has left the reform effort without the lift that it needs," Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, told Insider. "I expect the president to put out a short but clear statement that he wants to get this done ... Congress will move a lot quicker than they currently are if he makes that kind of statement."

The coalition's letter reminded Biden of his previous statements and actions regarding lawmakers and their personal finances.

"As a presidential candidate, you created a plan of 25 commitments to 'guarantee government works for the people,' which included a pledge to prevent members of Congress from being influenced by their personal financial holdings," the coalition wrote. "Indeed, as a senator who did not trade stocks, you served as an example of how to avoid undue influence from personal financial holdings. You also promised not to trade stocks as president and prohibited individuals serving on your 2020 presidential campaign from trading stocks.

"You are uniquely suited to speak on this issue," the coalition concluded.