Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and called for new party leadership in the form of a Spanberger-sponsored bill Friday on Capitol Hill. Ban lawmakers from trading stocks Slack in Congress while in office.
Spanberger, who faces a close reelection battle mid-November 8, issued scathing remarks Statement As it became clear the Trust in Congress Act would not come up for a vote until Election Day.
“This moment marks the failure of House leadership—and it is yet another example of why I believe the Democratic Party needs new leaders in the halls of Capitol Hill, as I have long known,” Spanberger said.
The two-time Congress member claimed support for his bill has increased in recent months – but the party leadership has engaged in “repeated delay tactics” to avoid votes.
“For months, momentum grew in both the US House and US Senate, eventually leading to a move toward banning members of Congress from day trading while on the job. We made significant progress toward correcting clear instances of conflicts of interest. Saw it,” Spanberger said.
“After indicating opposition to these reforms earlier, the Speaker reportedly reversed his position. However, our bipartisan reform coalition was then repeatedly subjected to delay tactics, hand-waving gestures, and obvious examples of Lucy pulling the football. ,
They included the “deviation strategy” in which the House Administration Committee created a new piece of legislation — the Government Act Combatting Financial Conflicts of Interest — that was introduced Tuesday.
That bill—which a Pelosi aide, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and sought to ban lawmakers, their spouses and children from trading stock – caused an immediate split in the Democratic Party.
“They eventually introduced a kitchen-sink package that they knew would crash immediately upon arrival, with only a few days left before the end of the legislative session and no time to fix it,” Spanberger said.
“It is clear that the House leadership does not have its heart in this effort, as the package released earlier this week was designed to fail,” she continued.
“It was written to create confusion around reform efforts and to complicate a straightforward reform priority – banning members of Congress from buying and selling individual stocks – all while making the appearance that House leadership wanted to take action. “
After Friday, the House was not scheduled to return to session until November 14.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Pelosi argued that pieces of Spanberger’s bill were included in the House Administration Committee’s proposed legislation.
“His bill is in the bill, others had ideas too. And that’s what the committee put forward,” Pelosi said.
“We need votes to bring this up,” she said.
Pelosi has faced mounting bipartisan pressure to push the law – critics point out Her husband Paul Pelosi’s stock trade as a potential conflict of interest.
A recent analysis found that about 20% of lawmakers traded stocks related to industries they saw on various committees.