Dems insist that House members immediately disclose stock trades made during tariff chaos

In the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly pause most of the sweeping tariffs he announced last week—a move that raised suspicions of possible insider trading and market manipulation—a group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are urging Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to ensure any stock trades recently made by members of the chamber are immediately disclosed.

“We write to urge that you join us in requesting every member of the House of Representatives immediately file and release their Periodic Trading Reports (PTR) for any transactions conducted between April 2, 2025, and April 9, 2025,” according to a letter the group sent Johnson, who represents Louisiana, on Thursday.

By law, lawmakers must file a form that is made public, known as a PTR, within 45 days of making a stock trade valued at over $1,000. The group of lawmakers is asking Johnson to join them in requesting that lawmakers immediately release their PTRs, rather than waiting for the end of the 45-day deadline.

“The public has the right to know whether anyone in the Congress profited from the considerable market instability and economic chaos caused by President Trump and his administration over the past week,” according to the letter, which was penned by Reps. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and David Min (D-Calif.).

Trump on April 2 unveiled broad tariffs that rattled markets and heightened fearsof a recession. Then, on Wednesday morning he wrote on social media: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” Hours later, he sent markets soaring when he declared a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries—though a number of levies, including on China, remain in place. The bump resulted in the largest one-day percentage gain for the S&P 500 since the financial crisis of 2008.

“Over the past week, House Republicans met with President Trump at the White House, attended the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner (mere hours before pausing the tariffs), and were in regular communication with the president ahead of the vote on the budget reconciliation resolution,” according to the letter. “The American people deserve to know if any representatives took advantage of their positions for personal gain.”

The letter concludes, “We reiterate our request for immediate consideration of legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. “

From Common Dreams.