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With his G.I. Joe hair and sharp suits, Rep. Rob Bresnahan proudly introduced his new bill on Friday, complete with the aptly chosen acronym TRUST (Transparency in Representation through Uniform Stock Trading Ban) Act.
Put simply, Bresnahan, who has an estimated net worth of $48.29 million, wants to ban members of Congress (and their spouses) from trading in stocks.
“Members of Congress should not be allowed to profit off the information they are entrusted with—this is a belief I have held since before taking office, and this belief has not changed,” the Pennsylvania congressman told his local news outlet, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. “I want the people I represent to trust that I am in Congress to serve them, and them alone,” he added.
The name of Bresnahan’s bill is curiously similar to the bipartisan TRUST bill launched by GOP Rep. Chip Roy and Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner in January. That’s TRUST as in Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust.
The difference between the two bills is that the original TRUST version bans members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading individual stocks and would force them to divest their stock holdings or move them into a blind trust. Bresnahan’s TRUST alternate would ban members and their wives from trading—but allow them to keep their portfolios.
Banning stock trading was a promise the wealthy young Republican businessman emphasized on the campaign trail on his way to being elected in November. “Too often we hear about how politicians are making millions of dollars during their time in office, and it is sickening,” he wrote to other local newspapers, among them the Pottsville Republican Herald. “If we want to restore trust in the government and our political leaders, then Congress needs to lead with these policies,” he said.
Who knows how much of a role the pledge played in his election victory, but the sentiments were admirable. Last week, he wrote in the press release unveiling his bill that he was working with the House Ethics Committee to move all his personal holdings into a blind trust.
“I have never traded my own stocks, but I want to guarantee accountability to my constituents,” the congressman insisted.
Imagine the surprise when Capitol Trades, a site monitoring trades by lawmakers, showed Bresnahan to be one of the most active freshman traders in Congress during his first months on the Hill. The 35-year-old made 357 trades up until April 8 with a volume of $4.1 million, according to the site.
It wasn’t just the volume but the specific trades that Bresnahan, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, made. Some of his trades involved construction company Caterpillar, railroad company CSX, and aircraft manufacturer Boeing. He has also dumped stock in Tesla, Elon Musk‘s troubled electric car company, and bought thousands of dollars worth of shares in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant (although, when he found out about this trade, the Rep. put a stop to it.)
Bresnahan’s flack Hannah Pope told The Swamp: “To be crystal clear: Rep. Bresnahan has broken no rules and does not personally direct any stock trades – a point he has made repeatedly. All trades were made by a financial advisor without his involvement. He’s also in the process of moving all holdings into a blind trust, which goes beyond what the law requires. Rep. Bresnahan is working to lead by example and strengthen public trust – not skirt it.”
Sources close to the congressman insisted that he did not know which companies his advisor traded in, nor was he involved in the timing of the trades.
As of now, Rep. Bresnahan’s bill has no co-sponsors (the Roy/Magaziner alternative has 44). We will be watching the progress of the TRUSTB Act with interest. And the trades made in the congressman’s name.
We will follow up in a few weeks on the blind trust’s progress.
The Swamp is written by David Gardner and Sarah Ewall-Wice.
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