Ruben Gallego wants to ban lawmaker stock trades if Democrats take Congress

U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego said Friday that banning stock trading by members of Congress would be a top priority if Democrats win back control of one or both chambers in the midterm elections.

“There’s no reason why members of Congress should be trading stocks, trading crypto or anything of that nature and then voting on legislation that could impact their investment,” the Arizona democrat said during an interview on KTAR News on Friday.

Gallego said lawmakers in both parties buy and sell stocks in industries they directly regulate, calling it “a corrupt deal.”

“It’s not corrupt because we haven’t made it legal, but we should make it illegal,” he said.

Gallego said Democrats need to offer voters more than opposition to President Donald Trump.

“We can’t just be the people that are going to be the no Trump, bad Trump,” he said. “You also have to do these other steps too, which is fix the corruption that’s been endemic in Washington, D.C., as well as show that we’re fighting for people to have a fighting chance in this country.”

He pointed to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan bill he worked on with democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and republican Sen. Tim Scott. That bill became law in July. Gallego said the bipartisan win is a model for what Democrats would pursue, citing the high cost of housing, rent, food and gas.

The measure, which is the largest federal housing bill in more than 30 years, cuts regulatory red tape, boosts housing supply and bars private equity firms from buying single-family homes.

“If we want to have a real governing party, we have to answer to people,” Gallego said.

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