Power should be a constraint, not a license: Members of Congress shouldn’t be allowed to own, buy, and sell stocks

embers of Congress have a hundred ways to enrich themselves, while in Congress and afterward, and most of them are corrupt to some degree. That corruption is bad because it distorts the policymaking process and erodes public trust in the people who should be our statesmen.

But there are a couple of restrictions we can safely put on Congress. One is a lifetime ban on lobbying contacts by former members. The other is a ban on members of Congress owning and trading individual stocks. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick , Matt Gaetz , and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez haveTheir bill would ban members of Congress and their spouses from owning individual securities, derivatives, or tradeable commodities.

Members of Congress also have access to legislative insider information, such as what bills or amendments are going to be proposed and might pass. They also are able, through their oversight of regulatory bodies and the subpoena power, to get other non-public information. If they use this insider information to enrich themselves, they are abusing their power.

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