Key Republicans worry that a congressional stock ban will restrict 'rights and freedoms' — despite Kevin McCarthy's interest in curbing lawmakers' stock trades

• Some Republicans are concerned about the negative impact a stock ban could have on lawmakers.
• They also said it would be financially costly for every lawmaker to open a qualified blind trust.

Key Republicans on the Committee on House Administration expressed concerns that restrictions — or an outright ban — on members of Congress trading stocks would restrict their "rights and freedoms."

"If we enact something like this, it will strip the rights and the freedoms of individuals, and everybody on this committee is a free American citizen that has rights," Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican of Georgia, said Thursday at a three-hour hearing titled "Examining Stock Trading Reforms for Congress."

The committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, said that legislative measures that propose lawmakers use qualified blind trusts to avoid potential conflicts of interest could be costly and time-consuming for members of Congress.

"I just don't believe that forcing middle-class members to divest their ownership portion of a family farm or to divest ownership in a business that their spouse may be a part of or their dependent children be apart of. I just think it's untenable," he said.

These remarks follow publication of Insider's "Conflicted Congress" investigation in December, which that found that 59 lawmakers and at least 182 senior-level congressional staffers have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act by failing to disclose their stock transactions within a timely manner.

The remarks also stand in stark contrast to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's most recent comments about a stock ban measure.

In January, McCarthy said he would consider barring lawmakers from holding or trading stocks and equities if Republicans won a House majority in November — something that's a distinct possibility.

Both Democrats and Republicans have used the issue of banning stock trading among members of Congress as a campaign talking point as the 2022 midterm election ramps up.

Loudermilk told Insider that he hadn't spoken to McCarthy about the issue.

"There are so many other issues that are facing the nation right now," he said with a laugh.

"I think this is something that when you really lay it out, people don't care about it," he added, despite recent polling to the contrary. "There's already guardrails in place."

Loudermilk added: "I agree with the leader that it is something to look at. But if you look at the history of this institution right here, we have restricted members of Congress to where it's almost like you're afraid to move in any direction, because of the politicization of the ethics that's going on."

Amid a flurry of stock trade-related bills introduced of late by Democrats and Republicans alike, Davis did indicate that he's interested in enhancing transparency measures related to lawmakers stock trades and wants to work with Democrats, "hopefully, to craft bipartisan legislation."

But some Democrats say Republicans are not serious about reforming measures around stock trading.

"It was clear from some of their comments that some of them feel that the status quo is acceptable," said Rep. Pete Aguilar, a Democrat of California. "But from our hearing, I would say that I would encourage members to be open minded about what changes we can implement to add to the public trust and to hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards."

And Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania who supports a stock trading ban, told Insider that she found Republican resistance "unsurprising."

"Just look at who the Republicans represent," she quipped in a potential allusion to wealthy campaign donors.

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

For example, at least 75 members of Congress or their spouses bought or sold stock in companies that make COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests in the weeks before and after the pandemic gripped the US in early 2020.

Four members of Congress or their spouses have either currently or recently invested money in Russian companies, and at least 19 have invested money in defense contractors that make weapons Ukraine is using to fight Russia's invasion.