Johnson: Stock trading ban to face opposition

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO/AP) — A bill in Washington with bipartisan backing would prevent members of Congress from trading of individual stocks. Among the supporters is South Dakota’s only member of the U.S. House Republican Dusty Johnson.

“It looks terrible when a member of Congress will make a big trade on a Thursday only to make a big vote on a Friday,” Johnson said Monday. “I think it undermines people’s confidence in this government, and we just need to prohibit members of Congress or their spouses or their family members from buying or selling any individual stocks.”

The TRUST in Congress Act would require Senators or Representatives, as well as their spouses and dependent kids, to put investments into a blind trust. Johnson is among the bill’s 91 cosponsors along with two Minnesota Democrats and an Iowa Republican. Johnson says the bill does ask him and his colleagues to go above and beyond.

“Periodically, I’ll have somebody push back. ‘Dusty, this is an erosion of the rights of a member of Congress. If they want to go out and buy Apple stock, let them buy Apple stock,'” Johnson said. “It clearly is an erosion of their freedom and yet, I think when you serve you need to hold yourself to a higher standard.”

The bill’s support from both sides of the aisle might not surprise observers. Opposition could have a similar energy.

“It has been and will be strongly bipartisan,” Johnson said. “There’ll be bipartisan opposition as well.”

The first word in the bill’s name is an acronym standing for “transparent representation upholding service and trust.” Dusty Johnson says that according to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, the TRUST in Congress Act could arrive on the House floor in the coming weeks.