US Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that Democrats should go all-in on opposing corruption in politics to avoid an electoral disaster in the November midterm elections.
Ms Warren warned that Democrats are walking into a historic defeat, which many of her colleagues in the party fret will hapen.
“To put it bluntly: if we fail to use the months remaining before the elections to deliver on more of our agenda, Democrats are headed toward big losses in the midterms,” she said.
The Massachusetts Democrat specifically said that Democrats should finalise their social spending bill after Senator Joe Manchin killed Build Back Better. She also called for the party to be an anti-corruption party.
Specifically, she said that Democrats should pass legislation banning members of Congress from trading stocks.
“Whether you’re a Republican senator or the Democratic speaker of the House, it is obvious to the American people that they should not be allowed to trade individual stocks and then vote on laws that affect those companies,” she wrote. “I have the strongest plan and the only bipartisan bill in the Senate to get it done.”
In February, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened the door to potentially banning members of Congress from trading stocks, after initially opposing the idea.
“We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that,” she said in December. But in February, the Speaker said that she would be OK with it but said she wants a ban that applies to all branches of government.
“It’s complicated and members will figure it out and then we’ll go forward with what the consensus is,” she said. “What we’re trying to build is consensus. Consensus.”
Multiple members of Congress in the House and Senate – including Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Mark Kelly, Republican Senator Josh Hawley, as well as Democratic Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – have disparate bills meant to ban members from trading stocks. Ms Warren teamed with Republican Senator Steve Daines from Montana on legislation to ban trading.
“I’m glad to see that there’s momentum in every corner for banning members from owning and trading individual stocks,” she said at the time.
