Republican Sens. Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno, along with Republican Reps. Mike Turner, Mike Carey, Warren Davidson and Jim Jordan have traded no individual stocks during the past several years, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of congressional financial records.
Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Cincinnati (whose district includes Warren County), said in an interview that his decision to recently sell off dozens of stocks he personally owned is motivated by “building trust” and “doing the right thing” for constituents.
Landsman is an original co-sponsor of the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act, one of several current bills that seek to limit or ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
“People see a system is broken, and then they see members buying and selling stocks and getting rich, and they think, ‘well, I can’t trust them,’” Landsman told the Dayton Daily News. “I desperately want to be a part of the generation of folks that fixes all of this … I don’t want a single one of them to think that I’m doing anything up here other than thinking about them.”
Landsman and Davidson, R-Troy, are among dozens of members of Congress whose improperly disclosed stock trades previously violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, a law Congress passed to curb insider trading and defend against conflicts of interest on Capitol Hill.
Davidson, who declined to comment for this story, stopped trading individual stocks altogether after NPR reported that he failed in 2020 to properly disclose the sale of up to $100,000 shares of stock in the Workhorse Group, a Sharonville, Ohio-based electric vehicle and technology company.
As for Carey, R-Columbus (whose district includes much of Clark and Miami counties) his congressional office says his decision to not trade stocks is straightforward.
“Congressman Carey holds himself to the highest standard of transparent, ethical conduct as a public servant,” spokesperson Jack Chambers said. “Each member of Congress can operate in a way that they deem best, in compliance with all relevant laws. In his personal commitment to his constituents, recusing himself from trading stocks and other individual assets prevents any appearance of impropriety or abusing the public trust for his personal financial benefit.”
Moreno is one of the wealthiest members of Congress. But individual stocks are not a part of his expansive financial portfolio, save for one modest stock sale he made in March to let go of a stock one of his limited liability companies acquired.
An auto dealership owner before entering the Senate, Moreno sold off his dealership interests when entering public service. Much of his wealth is consolidated in real estate and mutual funds, according to his most recent congressional personal financial disclosure.
Last week, Moreno became the first co-sponsor of a new bill introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that would ban members of Congress from trading or holding individual stocks.
It’s called the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act, or PELOSI Act — a dig at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who previously balked at congressional stock-trade bans and whose husband, Paul Pelosi, is a prolific stock trader.
“From day one, Senator Moreno made a commitment to Ohioans to not own or trade stocks while serving in the Senate, and he has honored that pledge,” spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said.
If passed, the PELOSI Act would “restore Americans’ trust in their elected leaders,” McCarthy added.
Landsman was a congressional stock trader as a freshman lawmaker during 2023 and 2024. His stock portfolio included shares in defense contractors and a tobacco company. Asked why he didn’t sell his stocks off during his first term, Landsman said he had a money manager overseeing his finances and “didn’t have involvement” in buying and selling shares.
But he acknowledged falling short when he violated the STOCK Act last year by failing to disclose dozens of individual stock trades worth between $379,000 and $1.44 million (Members of Congress are only obligated by law to disclose stock trade values in broad ranges).
“People are pissed off, they’re angry, they don’t believe the system is working and certainly working for them,” Landsman said. He added that members getting out of the stock-trading business — along with rejecting money from corporate political action committees — is “a big part of the solution.”
Representatives for Sen. Husted; Rep. Jordan, R-Urbana; and Rep. Turner, R-Dayton did not respond to requests for comment.
Lee Hannah, a political science professor at Wright State University, warned that there’s a “widespread impression that members of Congress have used their positions to enrich themselves” and that “lawmakers need to win back trust” of the American public.
“They are often voting on policies that could impact the bottom line of companies,” Hannah said. “Their unique knowledge about the status of legislation and its impacts on industry could allow them to strategically purchase stocks and see trends that others wouldn’t have knowledge of.”
Added Case Western Reserve University law professor Atiba Ellis: “Federal elected officials legislate around markets, and thus few stocks are not affected by their choices. This is a plausible conflict of interest.”
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