On Wednesday, July 30, the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced a bill that would bar top elected officials from trading stocks.

According to an announcement stating the committee had advanced the bill, the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transactions Act — styled the HONEST Act — would ban members of Congress, the president and vice president from buying securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts and other comparable holdings immediately after enactment and from selling them 90 days after enactment.

It also would require elected officials and their spouses and dependent children to divest covered assets beginning at the start of their next term.

The bill’s rationale is that members of Congress, the president and vice president have access to information others do not, thereby creating the possibility of a conflict of interest.

And in early 2020, there was a scandal when senators who had gotten a closed-door briefing about the possible effects of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy sold stock prior to a major market drop. An investigation followed, but no charges were filed.

Scandals like this erode the trust Americans have in their elected officials. Such scandals also lead to questions about conflicts of interest.

Senators and representatives earn $174,000 per year, far more than either the median individual wage for full-time workers nationwide — $60,000 — or the country’s median household income — $80,600.

The American people deserve to know elected officials are looking out for the public’s best interest. Officials should remove any ambiguity over private investments during their time in office. The HONEST Act would be a good step in that direction.

— JK

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., attended a closed meeting held by the Senate Committees on Health and Foreign Relations, during which senators were briefed on the COVID-19 outbreak and its likely affect on the U.S. economy. A week later, and again Feb. 18, Feinstein sold stock in Allogene Therapeutics, with an estimated value of $1.5 to $6 million. At the time she said the company “is unrelated to any work on the coronavirus.” Associated Press file photo

Susan Walsh