Dozens of lawmakers beat stock market in 2024: report

The stock portfolios of more than two dozen lawmakers once again outperformed the market as bans on congressional stock trading stalled, according to a new report from the trading trackers at Unusual Whales. Democratic lawmakers were up 31 percent and Republicans gained 26 percent while the S&P 500 was up 24.9 percent, according to the report, which also identified a number of conflicts between lawmakers’ stock holdings and their committee and legislative work. “The idea of lawmakers trading stocks while legislating is inherently problematic. Congress members shape policies that can directly impact markets. Whether or not they act on insider knowledge, the appearance of potential abuse undermines public trust,” Unusual Whales wrote in the fifth edition of the report. Stocks owned by the husband of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has faced significant blowback for her opposition to bipartisan stock trading bans as she consistently reports above-average stock gains, were up nearly 71 percent in 2024, the report found. Pelosi has previously defended congressional stock trading, saying members should be able to participate in a “free market economy.” Nine other lawmakers outperformed Pelosi last year, according to the report, with Rep. David Rouzer’s (R-N.C.) portfolio posting the largest gains — 149 percent, mainly due to Nvidia shares he purchased years earlier. Rouzer “made these buys years ago” and is “not an active trader,” Unusual Whales notes. Other members are more active, and several have made what Unusual Whales called “numerous unusual trades.” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), whose portfolio posted the second-biggest gain after Rouzer, purchased shares of the satellite operator Viasat in October while ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction. Viasat has received more than $2.7 billion in government contracts since fiscal year 2020, primarily from the Department of Defense, according to federal contract data. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, purchased shares of RTX, previously known as Raytheon, in April, the report found. RTX is one of the government’s biggest contractors and receives billions of dollars each year from the federal government. Spokespersons for Pelosi, Rouzer, Wasserman Schultz and Newhouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Members of Congress have been barred from trading on information they learn in their official capacity and required to file frequent financial disclosures for more than a decade under the 2012 STOCK Act. But lawmakers can still trade on the public stock market, and reporting delays and nonexistent enforcement actions have raised questions about these guardrails. No member of Congress has ever been charged for violating the act, even amid reports of lawmakers dumping stocks at the onset of the pandemic. And since 2020, none of the ten bills proposed to beef up guardrails on or outright ban congressional stock trading have reached the floor for a vote in either a Republican- or Democrat-controlled House. President Biden called for a congressional stock trading ban last month, taking a stance on the issue for the first time in his political career. “I don’t know how you look your constituents in the eye and know because the job they gave you, it gave you the inside track to make more money,” Biden said during an interview with the progressive nonprofit newsroom More Perfect Union.