WATCH: Bessent Calls For Congressional Stock Trading Ban, Pelosi Investigation

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the Trump Administration’s desire for a ban on congressional stock trading, as well as a formal investigation into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over allegations of using insider knowledge to profit.

“I am going to start pushing for a single-stock trading ban, because it is the credibility of the House and the Senate,” Bessent said Wednesday while speaking with Bloomberg TV.

“You look at some of these eye-popping returns — whether it is Rep. Pelosi, Sen. Wyden — every hedge fund would be jealous of them. And the American people deserve better than this,” the treasury secretary added.

Bessent’s most recent comments come as bipartisan support for a stock trading ban continues to grow, in addition to rising public support for such a move. Current law prohibits insider trading by lawmakers and requires more disclosures, though critics argue the law does not do nearly enough to prevent insider trading.

“People shouldn’t come to Washington to get rich, they should come to serve the American people, and it brings down trust in the system because I can tell you that if any private citizen traded this way, the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] would be knocking on their door,” Bessent said.

Pelosi has largely become the public face of congressional stock trading, though dozens of additional members in both chambers have generated controversy with profitable portfolios year after year. Pelosi’s husband, Paul, has made a number of highly successful stock trades over the years, which she is required to report in financial disclosures.

“Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” Pelosi spokesperson Paul Krager told The Hill in response to Bessent’s comments.

President Donald Trump has also endorsed the idea of a congressional stock trading ban and echoed Bessent’s comments in calling for an investigation of the Pelosi family’s trades. “I like it conceptually, and you know, Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information,” Trump said at a press conference last month. “She made a fortune with her husband, and I think that’s disgraceful. So in that sense I’d like it—but I’d have to really see the details. You know I study these things very carefully, and this just happened, so I’ll take a look at it.”

“She has the highest return of anybody practically in the history of Wall Street, save a few,” the president continued. “And how did that happen? It happened by—she knows exactly what’s going to happen, what’s going to be announced. She buys stock, and then the stock goes up after the announcement is made. She ought to be investigated.”