Trump attacks GOP senator Josh Hawley over bill to ban stock trading
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump attacked Missouri Republican Josh Hawley as “second-tier” senator after Hawley voted with Democrats to advance a bill banning stock trading among lawmakers, presidents and vice presidents.
Hawley introduced the bill that would ban members of Congress and their spouses from holding, buying or selling stocks. It passed out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by a vote of 8-7 on July 30, after being modified to extend the ban to future presidents and vice presidents. The restrictions in the bill won’t affect Trump or Vice President JD Vance.
Hawley was the lone Republican to vote for the bill. It was originally dubbed the “PELOSI Act,” alluding to the criticism former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi has faced over her husband’s stock trading. However, the bill’s name was changed to the “HONEST Act” as it moved through the committee. Pelosi has expressed support for the bill.
“I wonder why Hawley would pass a Bill that Nancy Pelosi is in absolute love with – He is playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats. It’s a great Bill for her, and her “husband,” but so bad for our Country! I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the “whims” of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!” Trump said in a July 30 Truth Social post.
His latest comments mark a shift in tone. Trump told reporters during a bill signing event earlier that same day that he didn't know much about the stock trading legislation, but liked it “conceptually.”
Hawley told The Independent that he'd met with Trump afterwards, and that Trump told him he was in favor of a stock trading ban on members of Congress. “He thinks we need to move full speed ahead,” Hawley told the outlet.
It is unclear whether the bill will have enough Republican support to pass the upper chamber. Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, who opposes the bill, said, "This idea that we're going to attack people because they make money is wrong. It's absolutely wrong."
Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna told Politico that she planned to force a House vote on a stock trading ban after lawmakers return from their annual one-month summer break in September. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he's in favor of a ban on trading, though he's added that he has "some sympathy" for lawmakers who argue the practice should continue.
Trump’s attack on Hawley comes after he slammed Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for adhering to a process that lets senators sign off on U.S. district judge and U.S. attorney nominees from their home states on a blue piece of paper. The blue slip helps the Senate Judiciary Committee decide whether to advance a nominee, according to the American Constitution Society. Trump lashed out again at Grassley’s decision to respect the blue slip process. Grassley said he was “surprised” and “offended” by Trump’s remarks.
Contributing: Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register