Tech Security Update

• Democrats against a congressional stock trade ban are hurting flyover country candidates, they say.
• They argue it's both bad politics and bad policy as Democrats try to hold on to their majorities.
• Some Republicans are attempting to outflank Democrats by touting stock trade restrictions.

Out in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, two flights and lengthy Lyft ride from Capitol Hill, US Senate candidate Tom Nelson follows events in Washington with disbelief as leaders of his own Democratic Party resist banning members of Congress from buying and selling stock. 

Nelson, the county's elected executive, is particularly bamboozled by President Joe Biden's unwillingness to back any of the several bipartisan plans to have emerged or re-emerged since Insider's "Conflicted Congress" project in December revealed numerous financial conflicts of interest and widespread violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, a law designed to prevent them. 

Biden wants Congress to "determine what the rules should be," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

But Nelson said it's "a bad mistake" for Biden to sit it out.

"He's got to get in the ring. He can't lead from behind," said Nelson, who's running in a crowded Democratic primary for a shot at challenging two-term incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican. "Democrats need a win — we need a big win. I'm concerned that he's not embracing this issue."

Nelson's outrage is shared by a growing number of Democratic congressional candidates who don't work in Washington, DC, but want to. And they're making a congressional stock ban a thick plank in their campaign platforms. 

US Senate candidate Lucas Kunce in Missouri not only wants to ban members of Congress from trading stocks, but he also wants to toss them in jail if they don't comply.

US Senate candidate John Fetterman in Pennsylvania said Wednesday that "there isn't any voter I've ever spoken to that says, 'yes, we should allow members of Congress to either protect their investments or make money based off the information they come in contact to."

They join an improbable and growing coalition of federal lawmakers on the left — Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — and the right — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sen. John Hawley — who've signaled their support for banning their colleagues from trading stocks. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Tim Ryan, both Ohio Democrats, as well as Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, have recently featured their support for congressional stock trade bans in their campaign fundraising messaging.

"Members of Congress have access to highly confidential information that the public does not," Ryan's campaign wrote in January. "But this is still legal thanks to politicians who only look out for their own bottom line."  

Democratic leaders must understand that they're at significant risk of losing majorities in the US House and US Senate during the 2022 midterms if they don't spearhead "common sense" efforts to bolster the public's trust in government, such as stock trade bans, Nelson said. That includes Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he said.

Pelosi's endorsement of lawmakers' right to trade individual stocks, followed recently by a reluctant course change, is particularly vexing because it cuts against what most Democrats want Congress to do, Nelson added, citing recent polls. 

It's also given fuel to TikTokkers and Twitter accounts that religiously track and meme the speaker's trading. Comedians at The Onion and The Daily Show have meanwhile made Pelosi a punchline.   

"Speaker Pelosi should be leading, Sen. Schumer should be leading. This is not only good policy, it's good politics," Nelson said. "But they're out of touch. And that's dangerous. It's dangerous because we're in a very challenging environment for Democrats, we're in the midterm, and our party is in power. There's very little room for error … This is a blunder."

Republicans embrace a congressional stock ban

Republican US Senate candidate Blake Masters in Arizona, for one, is already attempting to outflank Democrats by embracing a stock ban. He, too, has panned Pelosi — one of the wealthiest members of Congress whose venture capitalist husband, Paul Pelosi, frequently trades stocks and stock options — as a poster politician for congressional corruption. 

Even former President Donald Trump, arguably the most financially conflicted president in US history, has chimed in, saying in January that members of Congress trading individual stocks is "not right … not appropriate."

In Pelosi's own California congressional district, Democratic socialist Shahid Buttar is hammering the House speaker on her stock ban reluctance as part of his longshot attempt to upend her in a June 7 primary.

Democratic leaders' resistance to a congressional stock trade ban, Buttar told Insider, reveals their willingness to "prioritize capitalism over democracy. 

"That preference, and Pelosi's history of putting her stock portfolio before the public interest, violate the oath of office and demand accountability," he said.

Both Buttar and Nelson said they're at least mildly encouraged that Pelosi, increasingly squeezed by both liberals and conservatives, said she won't block stock ban bills from coursing through the legislative process.

But it'll take all Democratic leaders offering wholehearted support of such a ban — up to and including Biden — to give left-of-center candidates across the country proper political cover during the 2022 midterms.  

"We can't have stupid decisions coming out of Washington if we want to win," Nelson said.

• Insider and other media have identified numerous US lawmakers not complying with the federal STOCK Act.
• Their excuses range from oversights, to clerical errors, to inattentive accountants.
• Ethics watchdogs - and even some in Congress - want to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Insider and several other news organizations have this year identified 34 members of Congress who've failed to properly report their financial trades as mandated by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, also known as the STOCK Act.

Congress passed the law in 2012 to combat insider trading and conflicts of interest among their own members and force lawmakers to be more transparent about their personal financial dealings. A key provision of the law mandates that lawmakers publicly - and quickly - disclose any stock trade made by themselves, a spouse, or a dependent child.

But many members of Congress have not fully complied with the law. They offer excuses including ignorance of the law, clerical errors, and mistakes by an accountant.

While lawmakers who violate the STOCK Act face a fine, the penalty is usually small - $200 is the standard amount - or waived by House or Senate ethics officials. Ethics watchdogs and even some members of Congress have called for stricter penalties or even a ban on federal lawmakers from trading individual stocks, although neither has come to pass.

Here are the lawmakers who have this year violated the STOCK Act - to one extent or another - during 2021:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California

Feinstein was months late disclosing a five-figure investment her husband made into a private, youth-focused polling company.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama

Tuberville was weeks or months late in disclosing nearly 130 separate stock trades from January to May.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky

Paul was 16 months late in disclosing that his wife bought stock in a biopharmaceutical company that manufactures an antiviral COVID-19 treatment, the Washington Post reported.

Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona

Kelly, a retired astronaut, failed to disclose on time his investment in a company that's developing a supersonic passenger aircraft, Fox Business reported. 

Rep. Tom Malinowski, a Democrat from New Jersey

Malinowski failed to disclose dozens of stock trades made during 2020 and early 2021, doing so only after questions from Insider. He faces a congressional ethics investigation, which the Committee on House Ethics confirmed in September.

Rep. Pat Fallon, a Republican from Texas

Fallon was months late disclosing dozens of stock trades during early- and mid-2021 that together are worth as much as $17.53 million.

Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a Republican from Tennessee

Harshbarger failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades that together are worth as much as $10.9 million.

Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat from Massachusetts

Clark, one of the highest-ranking Democrats in the House, was several weeks late in disclosing 19 of her husband's stock transactions. Together, the trades are worth as much as $285,000.

Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican from Texas

Moore did not properly disclose dozens of stock and stock-option trades together worth as much as $1.1 million.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas

Crenshaw was months late disclosing several stock trades he made in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Daily Beast reported.

Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat of Nevada

Lee failed to properly disclose more than 200 stock trades between early-2020 and mid-2021. Together, the trades are worth as much as $3.3 million.

Rep. Kevin Hern, a Republican from Oklahoma

Hern did not disclose nearly two-dozen stock trades in a timely manner, in violation of the STOCK Act. Taken together, the trades are worth as much as $2.7 million.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida

Wasserman Schultz was months late reporting four stock trades made either for herself or her child.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat from New York

Maloney was months late in disclosing he sold eight stocks he inherited in mid-2020 when his mother died.

Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida

Mast was late disclosing that he had purchased up to $100,000 in stock in an aerospace company. The president of the company had just testified before a congressional subcommittee on which Mast sits.

Rep. Lori Trahan, a Democrat from Massachusetts

Trahan was months late disclosing the sale of stock shares in a software company.

Rep. John Rutherford, a Republican from Florida

Rutherford failed to properly disclose five individual stock transactions he made in late 2020.

Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat of Florida

Castor was late disclosing the purchase of tens of thousands of dollars worth of stock shares throughout 2021.

Rep. August Pfluger, a Republican from Texas

Pfluger was several months late disclosing numerous stock purchases or sales made in January or March either by himself or by his wife.

Rep. Cheri Bustos, a Democrat from Illinois

Bustos was months late in disclosing that she had sold up to $150,000 worth of stocks in March.

Rep. Steve Chabot, a Republican from Ohio

Chabot was months late disclosing a stock share exchange he held in early 2021.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana

Spartz was two weeks late disclosing a purchase of up to $50,000 worth of stock in a commercial real-estate firm.

Rep. Rick Allen, a Republican from Georgia

Allen, a four-term Republican who represents a large southeastern region of Georgia, appears to have improperly disclosed the purchases and sales of several stocks during 2019 and 2020.

Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican from Pennsylvania

Kelly was more than seven weeks late reporting a stock purchase made by his wife.

Rep. Chris Jacobs, a Republican from New York

Jacobs was months late filing various transactions made throughout early- to mid-2021, Forbes reported.

Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia

Scott was months late in disclosing a pair of stock sales from December 2020, Forbes reported. NPR also reported several other late transactions, as first identified by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat from Colorado

Perlmutter ran a few days late in filing disclosures for as much as $30,000 in stock trades his wife made in June.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York

Suozzi failed to file required reports on about 300 financial transactions, NPR reported, citing research from the Campaign Legal Center.

Rep. Cindy Axne, a Democrat from Iowa

During 2019 and 2020, Axne didn't file required periodic transaction reports for more than three-dozen trades, reported NPR, citing research by the Campaign Legal Center.

Rep. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio

Davidson didn't properly disclose the sale of stock worth up to $100,000, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research.

Rep. Lance Gooden, a Republican from Texas

Gooden failed to file mandatory periodic transaction reports for a dozen stock transactions, per the STOCK Act, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research. Gooden's office disputed that the lawmaker did anything wrong.

Del. Michael San Nicolas, a Democrat from Guam

San Nicolas did not properly disclose two trades — one in 2019 and another in 2020, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research.

Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas

Williams did not properly report three stock transactions his wife made in 2019, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research.

Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican from Pennsylvania

Meuser was about one year late disclosing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock purchases his wife and children made during March 2020, LegiStorm reported.

• Many issues divide Americans. But some core principles are alive and well.
• More than 4 in 5 adults "believe in the American dream," a new study found.
• But just 3 in 10 people believe American history is taught in a "fair and balanced" way.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

By certain measures, people in the US are more bitterly divided than they've been in decades, particularly over politics.

But as the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day, some bedrock principals of American unity and common cause are decidedly solid, according to a new study from America250, an organization composed of a congressionally chartered commission and sister nonprofit foundation. America250 is tasked with commemorating the nation's semiquincentennial - the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the United States.

The vast majority of adults in the US - 92% - want to "make America a better place to live," while 83% "believe in the American dream of working hard," the study indicates.

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Nearly four in five adults said they'd rather live in the United States than anywhere else, and almost as many said they're "proud to be an American." More than seven in 10 consider themselves "patriotic."

Teenagers surveyed were slightly less effusive: 77% said they want to help make the nation a better place, while 74% agreed it's important to "have a good understanding of how the government works."

Teens cited "non-white history," voting rights, the Civil War, and religion as historical topics they want to learn more about.

But education, in general, remains a wedge issue: Just three in 10 adults said they believe American history is taught in a "fair and balanced" manner, with nine in 10 saying the American education system needs to do a better job teaching civics.

These results come at a time when critical race theory, the study of how America's history of racism and discrimination continues to affect the nation today, has become one of education's most divisive issues.

Nevertheless, America250 officials, which are today formally launching a nationwide awareness campaign to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary in 2026, remain hopeful.

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"In spite of all the challenges we have endured this past year, we are encouraged that Americans are united in working toward a better future," said Daniel M. DiLella, chairman of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is part of America250. "Our mission is to commemorate our 250th anniversary with inclusive programs that inspire Americans to renew and strengthen our daring experiment in democracy."

Social Science Research Solutions Inc., conducted the survey on America250's behalf and polled 1,249 adults and 327 teens from May 12 to May 26. Respondents were targeted to reflect the nation's gender, age, race, and ethnic diversity, as well as different education levels and geographic regions.