Tim Burchett on why he strongly backs congressional stock trading ban
The Knoxville congressman has worked for years to stop lawmakers from profiting off information they learn on the job.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett was the first signature on a discharge petition designed to force a vote on a bill that bans congressional stock trading.
The petition was filed by U.S. Rep. Ana Paulina Luna, and Burchett has been a longtime supporter of banning elected officials from profiting off the information they learn in Congress.
A discharge petition is a procedural move used to go around House leaders. It needs 218 signatures to actually force the vote.
It’s the same method that forced a vote last month compelling the Department of Justice to release its Jeffery Epstein files, leading to President Donald Trump signing it.
Burchett likens congressional stock purchases to insider trading. Lawmakers can hear privileged information and use it to their financial advantage.
“We had a report yesterday that somebody had over 100 business transactions dealing with the military and they serve on the committee that regulates military operations,” Burchett told Knox News on Nov. 20. “There’s no red flags. It’s beyond belief.”
Stock trading has divided House leadership and the group of bipartisan lawmakers who cosponsored the Restore Trust in Congress Act. The legislation would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, dependent children and trustees from buying or selling stocks, securities, commodities, futures and other comparable assets.
Burchett was an early sponsor of this bill and has introduced similar bills in the past.
“We’ll probably pass something in the House and we may get something in the Senate, but they won’t match up,” Burchett said Nov. 20. “And that’ll be the trick they pull on us, or they’ll just sit on it. They’ll run the clock out on us. It’s just the inability of Congress to do anything. It’s bipartisan support, but dadgum there’s bipartisan against it as well.”
Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie
