A pair of House lawmakers want to ban top-level government officials from making impactful policy and regulatory decisions that could line their own pockets.
To do so, Rep. Michael Cloud, Texas Republican, and Rep. Jared Golden, Maine Democrat, joined forces to introduce legislation that would bar senior level officials in the executive branch from trading stocks.
Their bill, the Dismantling Investments in Violation of Ethical Standards through Trusts Act, or the DIVEST Act, would stop senior federal officials and their immediate families from trading individual stocks while serving in government. They are expected to introduce the measure, first reported by The Washington Times, on Wednesday.
Both lawmakers told The Times that the idea behind their legislation was to ensure that the federal bureaucracy is held in check while trying to bring a higher level of transparency to the public.
“It’s important we don’t have the [Anthony] Faucis of the world investing, for example, in health-care companies, or people in the Pentagon who are making decisions on weapons systems,” Mr. Cloud told The Times. “You want to make sure that they’re making the best choice on the strategic interest of the country.”
The list of banned transactions includes investments in securities, futures or “any economic interest comparable.” Employees would have the option of placing their investments into a blind trust, however, and would still be able to invest in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and U.S. Treasury bonds.
If passed, senior officials would have 180 days to adhere to the new rule. If they don’t, Mr. Cloud’s and Mr. Golden’s bill includes built-in punishments.
Among those penalties is a fine for continuing to engage in stock trading and a disgorgement clause that would require a senior federal employee to give any profits from barred transactions to the Treasury Department. The legislation would also prevent senior-level employees from deducting losses on banned transactions from their income taxes.
Both lawmakers acknowledged their measure comes as a broader push to ban lawmakers from trading stocks has grown increasingly popular across the country.
While voters find the idea attractive, a trading ban has been slow to catch on in Washington, with efforts to ban lawmakers from trading stocks coming and going over the years.
Mr. Cloud said that he viewed both efforts as being made in tandem, while Mr. Golden told The Times that he would like to see a congressional stock trade ban bill paired with his measure.
“I would actually rather, you know, say, do them together,” Mr. Golden said. “If you’re going to act on one, why not act on both? Like, show people that you’re not just pointing fingers, you know, at the other branch, right?”
There are plenty of bipartisan options to choose from should the lawmakers want to pair their bill with congressional stock trade ban legislation.
In the first two months of this Congress, there have been at least three bills introduced to bar lawmakers from trading stocks: the No Corruption in Government Act, the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress Act and the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act.
Mr. Golden was also quick to note that their bill was not geared toward just hammering new executive officials from the Trump administration.
“Cloud and I did this in the last administration, so it’s not like some kind of Trump thing,” he said. “We don’t care who’s in the White House, like this is just good practice.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.