May 17, 2026
A clip of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) defending congressional stock trading went viral on May 14, 2026, one year to the day after he made the comments. (1)
The same day, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics released filings showing President Donald Trump executed more than 3,600 stock transactions worth between $220 million and $750 million in the first quarter of 2026. (2)
What Speaker Johnson said
In the clip, Johnson lays out a sympathetic case. Frozen pay is already pushing qualified people away from Congress, he argues, and stock trading helps make the job worth taking.
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"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,” he says in the video. “I mean, people just make a reasonable decision as a family on whether or not they can come to Washington and have a residence here, residence at home, and do all the things that are required. 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.'" (3)
"On balance," Johnson added, he probably supports a ban "because I think it's been abused in the past, and I think, sadly, a few bad actors discolor it for everyone." Congress shouldn't have any "appearance of impropriety," he continued. (3)
Here's the thing: The salary numbers are real. The struggle is not.
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What members of Congress actually make
Rank-and-file members of Congress make $174,000. The Speaker makes $223,500. Other top party leaders make $193,400. Those numbers haven't moved since 2009. After inflation, that's roughly a 30% pay cut. (6)
For 2025, Johnson scheduled the House for 136 working days in Washington. The Senate, under Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota), is scheduled for 179. (14)
Salary is one piece. Members also get federal health benefits through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, a defined-benefit pension that kicks in after five years of service, Thrift Savings Plan matching and allowances for travel and office expenses. They keep their pay during recesses and stay pension-eligible after leaving office.
Outside earned income is capped at 15% of the congressional salary. There's no cap on investment income, book royalties or capital gains. The 2012 STOCK Act requires members to disclose financial transactions within 45 days, but enforcement has historically been limited to $200 fines for late filings. (6)
For context: Median U.S. household income in 2024 was $83,730, per the latest Census Bureau data. (7) A $174,000 base salary puts a lawmaker in the top 10% of American earners. Benefits, allowances and trading gains stack on top.
The trades fueling the scrutiny — from Pelosi to Trump
The Pelosi household has generated an estimated 16,930% return since 1987 and beat the market by 581% over the past decade, per Quiver Quantitative. Her portfolio gained 70.9% in 2024 against the S&P 500's 24.9%, according to Unusual Whales' 2024 Congress Trading Report. The trades are disclosed under the STOCK Act and have historically been executed by her husband, Paul Pelosi. A spokesperson has previously said the former Speaker "does not own any stocks and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions." (8)
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's stock portfolio is up 476% since she joined Congress in 2021, with a 74.5% win rate across 216 trades in 2025, per public disclosures. Greene announced her resignation effective January 5, 2026.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appointed by Trump, has been calling for a single-stock trading ban since August 2025.
"You look at some of these eye-popping returns — whether it's Rep. Pelosi, Sen. Wyden — every hedge fund would be jealous of them," Bessent told Bloomberg TV. "If any private citizen traded this way, the SEC would be knocking on their door." (9)
Then there's Trump himself. The May 14 OGE filings put the president's own portfolio in the same frame. Q1 purchases of Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, Amazon and Apple landed in the $1 million to $5 million range, alongside $5 million to $25 million sales of Microsoft, Amazon and Meta. A $1 million to $5 million Dell Technologies position opened Feb. 10.
Trump publicly endorsed Dell hardware at a White House event in early May. A Nvidia purchase landed one week before the Commerce Department approved chip sales to China. The White House said Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children and that "there are no conflicts of interest." In March, the White House warned staff against insider trading after prediction-market bets and oil futures trades appeared to anticipate Trump's Iran war announcements. (2)
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The bill to ban congressional stock trading — and why it's stalled
Voters have been clear on this for years. A 2024 YouGov poll: 77% of Republicans, 73% of Democrats, 71% of independents back banning elected officials from trading stocks. (4) A 2024 University of Maryland Program for Public Consultation survey put national support at 72% for a congressional ban — 74% for extending it to the president, vice president and Supreme Court justices. (5)
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The bill in question is the Restore Trust in Congress Act, a bipartisan proposal from Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island). It would bar members, their spouses and their dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks. Existing holdings would have to move into qualified blind trusts within 180 days. The bill has 130 cosponsors. (10)(11)
It's sitting in committee, where House leadership controls whether it ever gets a floor vote. That's where the discharge petition comes in — a procedural maneuver that lets rank-and-file members bypass leadership and force a vote, if they can gather 218 signatures. The mechanism worked three times in late 2025, forcing floor votes on the release of Jeffrey Epstein files, Affordable Care Act subsidy extensions and federal workforce collective bargaining rights. (13)
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) filed a discharge petition on the bill on December 2, 2025. As of May 2026, it sits at 82 signatures. One has been added since mid-January. (10)
The Senate has its own version, covering members, the president and the vice president, which cleared the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in 2025. Some drafts exempt sitting officeholders through timing provisions. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-New York) is pushing yet another House proposal, the Restore Trust in Government Act, which would also extend the ban to the president and vice president. (12)
Which brings it back to Johnson. He said on the record he supports a ban "on balance." But the bill that would deliver one is stuck in his House — and the discharge petition meant to force a vote needs 136 more signatures.
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Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
BuzzFeed (1); NBC News (2); The Hill (3, 9, 13); YouGov (4); Program for Public Consultation (5); Congressional Research Service (6); U.S. Census Bureau (7); Quiver Quantitative (8); Office of the Clerk, U.S. House (10); Congress.gov (11); Roll Call (12); Office of the House Majority Leader (14)
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Rudro is an Editor with Moneywise. His work has appeared on Yahoo Finance, MSN, MSN Money, Apple News, Samsung News and the San Diego Union Tribune.
