Dupage Policy Journal

Should legislators be allowed to participate in the stock market?  Do members of Congress have unfair advantage in buying and trading corporate shares? 

More light is being shed on the insider trading in Congress and how lawmakers' net worth is skyrocketing while in office. Last year, four U.S. senators faced accusations of using insider information during the pandemic to profit off of the stock market, according to CNBC.

In an April 22 podcast, The Texian talked about how suspected insider trading is happening on both sides of the political aisle. 

One of the legislators cited as an example is from Illinois. Dennis Hastert of Naperville served in U.S. Congress from 1999 to 2007—and during that time, his net worth spiked from $250,000 to $17 million. 

"Denny Hastert's probably my favorite of this," the podcast speaker said. "[...] He had a net worth of $250,000 when he got [to Congress]. When he resigned, he had $17 million in net worth. I didn't see any place where he wrote a book, he wasn't an especially dynamic politician that could have given speeches for a bunch of money. How did he get rich?

"[...] That's a hell of a financial performance at a time when he's supposed to be serving his constituents."

The problem with insider trading has fostered more attention recently. A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, which aims to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks based on privileged information and legislative advantages.  

An opinion piece in The Hill suggested that members of  Congress be banned from trading individual stocks, but allow the option to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds. 

"Why not allow leading public servants who must reshape their personal portfolios to invest in America?" opinion contributor Bruce Yandle wrote. 

 A 2006 article from American Progress outlines a series of ethically questionable real estate dealings that Hastert participated in and boosted his net worth almost instantly. 

Hastert served 13 months in prison on convictions of child molestation and federal indictment of attempts to cover up the scandal.