Democrats are targeting Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) over his stock trading after the freshman Republican dismissed the idea of telling his financial advisors to hold off on trades this week.

The issue of congressional stock trading has gained new momentum this Congress, with a bipartisan group of House members banding together to ban lawmakers from buying stocks. Multiple pieces of legislation, including one from Bresnahan, have been introduced to ban congressional stock trading during the 119th session.

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However, Bresnahan does not appear to plan to halt his stock trading for now.

“And then do what with it?” he asked in an interview with local station WVIA News. “Just leave it all in the accounts and just leave it there and lose money and go broke?”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee blasted his response, saying in a statement that Bresnahan only “cares about his bottom line.”

“Multi-millionaire Rob Bresnahan is full of s***,” DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin said in a statement. “He campaigned on a promise to ban congressional stock trading, but is now saying that he must continue his prolific trading in order to prevent himself from going broke. He doesn’t care about his constituents – he only cares about his bottom line.” 

Bresnahan has been scrutinized over his stock trading since entering Congress earlier this year. In 2024, he campaigned on banning members of Congress from trading stocks. Democrats are hoping to flip his seat, one of the most competitive seats in the country, which is in a purple district in Pennsylvania.

“Rep. Bresnahan was a small business owner before becoming a Member of Congress, and unlike the DCCC’s long-time benefactor, prolific stock trader [Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)], he does not plan on being a Member of Congress for the rest of his career,” Bresnahan’s Communications Director, Hannah Pope, told the Washington Examiner. “He does not trade his own stocks and is unaware of what is traded or when.”

“He believes Members of Congress should not be allowed to profit off the information they are entrusted with, which is why he introduced legislation to ban Congressional stock trading, restoring the integrity Americans expect and deserve from their government,” she continued.

The freshman Republican has repeatedly stated he has had nothing to do with his stock trades since he was sworn into Congress, as scrutiny over this issue has followed him in recent months, with the Pennsylvania Republican’s advisers having traded and bought hundreds of stocks since he took office.

From April 2 to April 8, when Trump’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs were started and then paused, the congressman traded at least 180 stocks, according to the congressional stock trader tracker InsiderFinance. Over the last six months, Bresnahan has reported over 500 stock trades, according to Capitol Trades.

Bresnahan was exploring entering into a blind trust with the House Ethics Committee, but has since said the rules to do so have made it difficult. He would be barred from instructing his advisers to avoid certain investments, such as foreign companies.

Because of this, Bresnahan informed the House Ethics Committee of two new restraints he placed on his financial advisers regarding his stock portfolio late last month.

ROB BRESNAHAN PUTS MORE GUARDRAILS ON STOCK TRADE AFTER SCRUTINY

The two guardrails prohibit his advisers from investing in companies based in or owned by countries that are adversaries of the United States, including any funds, such as a mutual or exchange-traded fund, with significant foreign investments, and forbid using funds to short sell or “bet against” U.S. companies.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner late last month that she plans to force a vote on a congressional stock trading ban through a discharge petition.