EXCLUSIVE: Congress Stock Trading Could Be Ending Soon – Expert Says 'People Are Sick Of It'

<p>Chris Josephs co-founded Autopilot, a company that has millions of dollars that <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/politics/26/03/51163473/exclusive-from-2-million-to-1-3-billion-autopilots-focus-on-pelosi-and-other-politicians-is-paying-off?nid=51259577&amp;utm_campaign=partner_feed&amp;utm_content=site&amp;utm_medium=partner_feed&amp;utm_source=yahooFinance">copies the trading activity</a> of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Despite this being part of his business, Josephs is in favor of banning Congress members from trading stocks, something he told Benzinga could be coming sooner than later.</p>
<h2>Congress Stock Trading Ban Close?</h2>
<p>Josephs launched the Pelosi Stock Trader years ago as a way to highlight the questionably timed trades of Pelosi on social media.</p>
<p>One of the reasons for launching the tracker and eventually Autopilot was a feeling of throwing up your hands and saying if Congress members can trade “right in front of us, we're going to join them," Josephs told Benzinga.</p>
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<p>It's the disgust with the concept of Congress members buying and selling stocks with potential conflicts of interest and public awareness that could finally put an end to the practice.</p>
<p>"I think one, the people are sick of it. I think it's essentially getting to that point," Josephs said. "Two, is the midterms and it's a great thing to run on."</p>
<p>Josephs told Benzinga that people running for Congress in the 2026 election and taking on incumbents are likely to use the trading history of elected officials against them.</p>
<p>"They're going to come out and say, ‘I support a ban on congressional stock trading.'"</p>
<p>The Autopilot co-founder said this could lead to more awareness for the practice again.</p>
<p>Another potential reason a ban is close is that the STOCK Act passed in 2011 and didn't do enough in terms of transparency, Josephs added.</p>
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<p>Josephs said the STOCK Act still allows a delay in disclosing stock trades and the ability to trade individual stocks that could be a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>"It just seems like the right time in history with all the distrust going on in society and especially with our governments and our politicians, that in passing this is a massive step towards better trust and transparency from elected officials."</p>
<p>Josephs said telling members of Congress they can't buy individual stocks, but can buy treasuries and ETFs is not unreasonable.</p>
<p>"You just can't buy Raytheon while you're sitting on an armed services committee and watching Iran get bombed," Josephs said, highlighting Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/politics/26/03/51099382/markwayne-mullin-could-be-next-dhs-leader-senator-has-bought-and-sold-24-million-in-stocks-since-2023?nid=51259577&amp;utm_campaign=partner_feed&amp;utm_content=site&amp;utm_medium=partner_feed&amp;utm_source=yahooFinance">owning RTX Corp</a> stock.</p>