Congress, listen up: Here’s a chance to restore faith in federal government

Here’s an opportunity to restore a little faith in government.

Last night, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, a bill that would require members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependent children, to stop trading stocks.

Instead, current members would have to place “certain investments into a qualified blind trust or divest them” within 120 days of the bill becoming law and any new members would “be required to do the same within 120 days of assuming office.”

Those investments would include “a security, commodity, future, or any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means such as the use of a derivative.”

The bill is similar to one introduced last year in the House of Representatives by Virgina Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Texas Rep. Chip Roy.

“Members of Congress should not be playing the stock market while we make federal policy and have extraordinary access to confidential information,” Ossoff said in a press release.

He’s right.

According to the Pew Research Center’s latest figures, “Public trust in government remains low. Only about one-quarter of Americans say they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (22%).”

Look again. Just 2% of Americans believe the federal government can be trusted “just about always” to do the right thing.

That’s like a one-star review on Yelp. Not promising.

Congress members are the ultimate insiders. They make the rules and are privy to rules not yet written. That information undoubtedly gives them an unfair advantage and makes their motives suspect.

Retiring North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, for instance, has not been charged by the Department of Justice, but is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for stock sales he made before the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020.

Think it’s unfair to have to divest or place your investments in a blind trust? Simple, don’t run for office.

But by supporting the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and their colleagues in Washington, D.C. have a perfect opportunity to beat the polls, defy the incredibly low expectations of the American people and do the right thing.