This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Long have there been questions about how some of America's elected leaders acquire so much wealth.
While those who seek seats in Congress generally come from a background of political or business successes, and their salaries, currently $174,000 for members, are far above the average for Americans, still questions arise because after a number of years in office, some report net worth of not just tens of millions of dollars but hundreds of millions.
The result is obvious: questions about insider trading, because they are the ones who set policy and establish actions that actually change the economics of certain industries or investments, and they have advance knowledge of their own plans.
One such situation involved two-time House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, when reports confirmed she pushed billions in federal aid for electric vehicles and her husband's stock in Tesla, an EV manufacturer, surged in value.
So U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is proposing a new law that would crack down on such situations that certainly create the appearance of conflicts of interest and insider knowledge.
And he's calling it the PELOSI Act, an acronym for "Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments."
It would bar members, and their families, from trading stocks while in office.
A report at American Greatness explained, "The name of the act is a direct nod in the direction of 20 term Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) whose net worth has soared from $160,000 when she was first elected in 1987 to more than $140 million in 2024." That's an increase in her worth of more than $3.5 million, per year.
Her husband was described in the report as an investor "who has made significant financial gains on stock trades that some speculate may have been based on insider information."
President Donald Trump has said he would sign the bill if it arrives on his desk.
"Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public. It's time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans' trust in our nation's legislative body," Hawley explained.
The plan bans lawmakers and their spouses from purchasing, selling or holding stocks during the time that the lawmaker is in office.
Previous reports have confirmed that Pelosi, for example, saw her portfolio grow nearly 71% between Dec. 29, 2023, and Dec. 30, 2024. That compares to the S&P 500's 24.9% return for the period.
"Pelosi outdid many of the world's oldest and largest hedge funds in 2024, including Citadel, which had $66 billion in assets under management as of December, and Discovery Capital, which has been around for over 25 years and had $15 billion in assets under management at its peak. She also outperformed legendary investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, more than doubling its 27.1% 2024 return," the Daily Caller News Foundation has reported.
A spokesman for Pelosi's office said Pelosi does not own stocks, and has "no prior knowledge or subsequent involving in any transactions."
But the report added, "Pelosi has made other shrewd trades in the past, unloading more than $1.5 million worth of stock in Google's holding company Alphabet one month before the Department of Justice announced an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant."
Reports confirmed that in 2023, Pelosi made a 65% profit on her stock trading portfolio.
