Mike Johnson says he supports a stock trading ban — but has 'sympathy' for lawmakers who want to keep doing it

"I don't think we should have any appearance of impropriety," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty ImagesHouse Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that he supports a ban on stock trading in Congress.But he said he has "sympathy" for arguments against it.Trump recently said he supported a stock trading ban and would sign it into law.House Speaker Mike Johnson says he supports banning members of Congress from trading stocks — but has "sympathy" for arguments against it."I'm in favor of that, because I don't think we should have any appearance of impropriety," Johnson told reporters on Wednesday, before adding that there's an "other side" to the argument.The speaker, whose own personal finances are relatively modest, noted that annual salaries for rank-and-file members of Congress have remained frozen at $174,000 since 2009 and that some lawmakers may find it hard to make the job work financially."If you stay on this trajectory, you're going to have less qualified people who are willing to make the extreme sacrifice to run for Congress," Johnson said. "So the counterargument is — and I have some sympathy — look, at least let them, like, engage in some stock trading, so that they can continue to, you know, take care of their family."The speaker previously told NPR that he was "open to the conversation" about a stock trading ban, but declined at the time to take a position.Johnson doesn't own or trade any stocks himself, according to his 2023 financial disclosure. The Louisiana congressman is far less wealthy than most members of Congress and once slept in his Capitol Hill office.The speaker on Wednesday went on to say that blatant insider trading would not be tolerated."Look, we have no tolerance for anything even resembling insider trading, or any of this kind of advantage that anybody can take, zero tolerance for it," Johnson said. "And we'll stamp it out ourselves.".@SpeakerJohnson on potential Congressional stock ban: "I'm in favor of that because I don't think we should have any appearance of impropriety here...On balance, my view is we probably should do that." pic.twitter.com/7AEDoGxAIA— CSPAN (@cspan) May 14, 2025 Stock trading by members of Congress has been controversial for years, and lawmakers have made multiple attempts to ban the practice.The idea gained more momentum in recent weeks after President Donald Trump said he would sign a stock trading ban into law.Democrats have also called attention to well-timed stock trades made by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia during a dip in the stock market caused by Trump's April 2 tariff announcement.She's not the only person who benefited. Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida also plunged tens of thousands of dollars into stocks during that same period, just days before Trump's announcement of a 90-day "reciprocal" tariff pause caused a rebound in the market.Read the original article on Business Insider

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