Virginia Dem attacks Pelosi-backed proposal on stock restrictions: 'Bulls---'
Pelosi changed her position, saying she would be open to the idea of a stock trade ban if members preferred it
Rep. LaHood slams Pelosi for 'embarrassing' move not to address government stock trading sooner
Illinois Republican Congressman Darin LaHood argues House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 'finally taking action' by calling for a 'government wide' stock trading ban because of the 'pressure' building on her during an election year.
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., offered some blunt criticism about a proposal to prohibit members of Congress from trading stock.
It's "bulls---," she said told Punchbowl News. Her comments came in response to a question about the proposal, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has publicly supported.
On Wednesday, Luria reportedly said: "So my thoughts on it, you know, I think this whole concept is bulls---. Because I think that, why would you assume that members of Congress are going to be inherently bad or corrupt? We already have the STOCK Act that requires people to report stock trades."
PELOSI REVERSES COURSE, SIGNALS OPENNESS TO BANNING CONGRESSIONAL STOCK TRADES
"Why would you assume – I mean, the people that you're reelecting to represent you, it makes no sense that you're going to automatically assume that they're going to use their position for some nefarious means or to benefit themselves," she added. "So I'm very strongly opposed to any legislation like that."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Aug. 6, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Pelosi previously opposed stock restrictions but then said she was open to the possibility if members favored that. She added that stock restrictions should be "government-wide" and apply to the Supreme Court.
"The third branch of government, the judiciary, has no reporting," she said. She added that "the Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions. And it makes important decisions every day."
Luria's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
PELOSI WANTS ANY STOCK TRADING BAN TO BE ‘GOVERNMENT WIDE’
Other Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have voiced support for banning trading among members of Congress.
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AOC filed a ban at the beginning of the month. "It is absolutely ludicrous that members of Congress can hold and trade individual stock while in office," she said in December.
"The access and influence we have should be exercised for the public interest, not our profit. It shouldn’t be legal for us to trade individual stock with the info we have."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP Newsroom)
Fox Business' Marisa Schultz and Megan Henney contributed to this report.