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Daniel Schuman

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    Congress

    Taking stock of congressional ethics

    Daniel Schuman
    Izzi Olive
    March 15, 2022
    Congressional stock trading

    Sen. Richard Burr is under investigation for selling millions of dollars in stocks following a briefing on Covid-19.

    Pool/Getty Images

    Schuman is policy director for Demand Progress. Olive is a writer and research assistant for the organization.

    Last year, 57 members of Congress and 182 senior-level congressional staffers violated the law requiring them to disclose their financial conflicts of interest, according to painstaking reporting from Business Insider. When first asked about the violations, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi pooh-poohed the idea of prohibiting members from trading individual stocks, saying, “We are a free-market economy. [Members] should be able to participate in that.” In the months since, Pelosi has changed her public tune, asking one of her lieutenants to develop reform ideas behind closed doors.

    What caused the turnaround? A mounting number of lawmakers endorsed various proposals to stop members of Congress from using the privileged information they regularly receive to make outsized gains playing the market. Pelosi, whose husband’s trades in tech stocks have earned their family millions and who has long been reluctant to move forward these kinds of reforms, was the perfect vessel to spark public outrage at the perfect time.

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    Congress

    Big rules changes required, and quick, for Capitol Hill to respond to coronavirus

    Daniel Schuman
    Marci Harris
    March 11, 2020
    Big rules changes required, and quick, for Capitol Hill to respond to coronavirus

    "The rapid spread of coronavirus has made it unsafe and unwise for members of Congress — many of whom are among those most likely to become grievously ill — to convene in person," argue Daniel Schuman & Marci Harris.

    Philip Rozenksi/iStock/Getty Images Plus

    Schuman writes the First Branch Forecast weekly newsletter and is policy director for Demand Progress, a nonprofit group advocating for civil liberties, civil rights and government reform. Harris is a former House aide and CEO of Popvox Inc., an information and resources platform for civic engagement and legislating.

    The rapid spread of coronavirus has made it unsafe and unwise for members of Congress — many of whom are among those most likely to become grievously ill — to convene in person.

    Current rules, however, require members to be physically present to vote on the floors of the House and Senate. If our legislative branch is to respond effectively to this crisis and play its vital constitutional role as a check on the executive and judicial branches, it must act now to give itself the option to convene in a temporary emergency remote session.

    As speaker, Nancy Pelosi has the power to convene the House outside of the chamber if the public interest requires it; Senate leaders have similar powers. Whether the House or Senate could convene online in virtual session, however, is a different matter and likely would require each chamber to vote — and in person — to amend their rules in advance.

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    The unique circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic make it necessary for the House and Senate to do so now.

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