These potential future presidents are already demonstrating the art of the stall.
Rising political stars in Congress — who have an eye on a White House run in 2028 — are putting off filing the mandatory annual disclosures of their financial worth.
Among them are Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the lefty Silicon Valley congressman who “tries to be a man of the people” despite a net worth of up to $232 million and being the most active Democratic trader in the House of Representatives, according to past filings.
Khanna, 49, said he’s considering a 2028 run and would be the progressive darling if “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) decides not to seek the party nomination. She too has delayed her annual financial disclosure, as she’s done every year since 2020.
AOC, who regularly pleads poverty in her fundraising appeals, had a negative net worth of $33,000 to $66,000, according to last year’s disclosure.
Ocasio-Cortez, 36, has yet to tie the knot with her longtime fiancé, Riley Roberts, who she got engaged to in 2022 — which means she can keep his assets off the books.
Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who still preaches at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and blasted the “bad news” of Elon Musk becoming the world’s first trillionaire, doubled his own net worth to $2.2 million since taking office. Lucrative book deals helped him to nab a posh $1.15 million Washington, DC pad.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who could put his hat in the ring for the top job, also filed for a three-month extension. The former astronaut banks millions in public speaking gigs and had an estimated net worth of $20 million in 2024, according to Quiver Quantitative.
Others include Sen. Cory Booker (D-NY), who published a new book in March; Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), whom President Trump gave the new nickname “Os(jerk!)off.”
On the GOP side, presidential hopefuls with late disclosures include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who had an estimated net worth of $12 million last year and whose wife Heidi Cruz is a Goldman Sachs executive, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), whose last disclosure revealed a net worth of $6 million.
“There’s a political benefit for holding off any disclosures” for those like AOC facing primaries, said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, plus an administrative benefit of getting it “exactly right … they don’t want to have an Ilhan Omar problem.” he said.
Minnesota “Squad” Dem Omar disclosure claims of financial gains worth millions brought multiple probes.
