Citgroup, Bank of America top profit forecasts on strong trading revenue
Wall Street banks posted strong quarterly results as they benefited from volatile markets in the first three months of 2025. Citigroup and Bank of America topped estimates for first-quarter profit on a surge in stock trading.
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’s personally in favor of a ban on congressional stock trading, even as he said he has “sympathy” for lawmakers who argue the practice should continue.
The comment comes as a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been pushing legislation to do just that, and as some lawmakers come under fire for trading stocks around President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
“I’m in favor of that because I don’t think we should have any appearance of impropriety here,” Johnson told reporters on May 14.
Johnson added that he has “some sympathy” for the “counterargument” members have made: Lawmakers’ salaries have been frozen since 2009 and has less purchasing power every year due to inflation. Over time, he said, “less qualified people” will be willing to run for Congress and pay the costs that come with it, like a home in Washington and in their home district, and stock trading helps them keep up. Members of Congress make $174,000 per year.
It was unclear whether he would put the legislation up for a vote on the House floor.
“My view is we probably should do that because I think it’s been abused in the past and sadly a few bad actors discolored it for everyone,” he said. “We have no tolerance for anything even resembling insider trading or any kind of advantage that people could take. Zero tolerance for it and we’ll stamp it out ourselves.”
It’s the first time Johnson has publicly weighed in on the issue. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries backed a stock ban in April.
Lawmakers have attempted to ban congressional stock trading for years, but each effort has eventually failed or petered out. Insider trading by members of Congress is already illegal and lawmakers are required to publicly report their stock trades.
The proposed bill would go a step further, requiring all members of Congress and their families to divest from their investments or put them into a blind trust. It currently has 72 bipartisan cosponsors, including progressive Democrats like Reps. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, and conservative Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee.