Pappas Helps Reintroduce TRUST in Congress Act
Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) helped reintroduce the bipartisan Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress (TRUST) Act alongside Representatives Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) and Chip Roy (TX-21).
“In my short time in Congress, I’ve seen both Democrats and Republicans who appear to be more motivated by self-interest than what’s best for the country or their constituents,” said Congressman Pappas. “And in the face of growing evidence that far too many members of Congress continue to violate the STOCK Act, it’s clear that we must take additional action to stop insider trading and prevent conflicts of interest among legislators. The TRUST in Congress Act will ensure that no member of Congress can abuse their office for personal gain, and I urge House leadership to bring this bipartisan legislation to the floor for a vote.”
This legislation would require Members of Congress — as well as their spouses and dependent children — to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress, effectively banning them from trading individual stocks.
By establishing this new firewall between Members and their investments, the TRUST in Congress Act would make sure Members of Congress cannot use their positions in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate to unethically inform investment decisions, influence the value of their existing investments, or contribute to greater distrust between the American people and their elected officials.
This legislation is supported by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, the Campaign Legal Center, Taxpayers for Common Sense, FreedomWorks, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Protect Democracy, Americans for Prosperity, the Government Accountability Project, Issue One, PEER, Democracy12, Fix the Court, and the ECU Action Fund
Background:
Ahead of the start of the 118th Congress, Pappas urged House leadership to include a ban on trading stocks by members of Congress in the House rules package. A House rules change would have applied to Members of the House immediately, giving Congress time to pass a permanent law applying to both the House and the Senate.
In the 117th Congress, Pappas broke with Democratic House leadership to call for a stock trading ban to come to the floor. He cosponsored H.R. 336, the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress (TRUST) Act, and H.R.1579, the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, two bipartisan bills meant to prevent members of Congress from abusing their positions and profiting from public service.