President Joe Biden said in a partial interview published Tuesday that he supports a ban on stock trading by members of Congress, taking a position on an issue that has been the subject of debate and proposed legislation in recent years.
In an interview on the progressive nonprofit news site More Perfect Union, Biden said with Faiz Shakir, an adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that he did not know how lawmakers could in good conscience trade stocks while representing their states or districts.
“I don’t know how you look your voters in the eye because the job they gave you gave you the inside track to make more money,” Biden said.
Shakir noted during the interview that Biden owned no stocks during his decades as a senator.
Biden’s comments Tuesday marked the first time he took sides on the issue, but it’s unclear what impact they might have given his lame-duck status with just over a month left in office.
Stock trading in Congress has become a political flashpoint on Capitol Hill and beyond, as ethics watchdogs and some lawmakers allege that members of Congress who trade stocks are profiting from insider information.
Legislation to ban trading in congressional stock has been introduced repeatedly in recent years but has never passed.
A bipartisan group of senators introduced a proposal this year called the ETHICS Act, which would ban lawmakers from buying stocks and other covered investments and bar them from selling shares 90 days after the bill takes effect. The bill would also ban such activities by their spouses and dependent children.
The proposal would also require the president and vice president to divest from covered investments and would impose monetary penalties for violating the proposal, which one of its sponsors, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. legislation that helps maintain confidence in this institution.”
The full Senate has not yet put the legislation to a vote.
Former President Barack Obama signed a bill in 2012 aimed at preventing insider trading by members of Congress and aides and increasing reporting requirements.
In the interview with Shakir, Biden called for more action.
“I think we need to change the law that we need – that’s what we adhere to at the federal level – that no one, no one in Congress is allowed to make money in the stock market while they’re in Congress,” he said. said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
