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The New York Times called out former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a Monday piece, arguing she’s ending her career with an “asterisk” due to her stance on congressional stock trading.
While Pelosi, who’s retiring in 2027 after 40 years in Congress, will leave office as the most powerful woman in American political history, “the widespread perception that she was on the wrong side of the debate over congressional stock trading, and personally benefited from the practice, has put an asterisk on that legacy,” the Times reported.
Pelosi does not personally own or trade stocks, but her husband, venture capitalist, Paul Pelosi, actively does. They have grown exponentially wealthier amid her time in office, a correlation that has raised eyebrows on both sides of politics. Critics argue that they have benefited from essentially having insider knowledge through her time as an influential politician.
As bipartisan fervor has grown to prevent congressional stock trading, Pelosi “failed to appreciate the groundswell of support for banning the practice, refusing to give an inch amid GOP accusations that she was corrupt,” the Times reported.
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her husband, Paul Pelosi. (Kevin Wolf/AP Photo)
When questioned by a Business Insider reporter about the practice in 2021, Pelosi responded, “We are a free-market economy,” suggesting “they should be able to participate in that.”
The Times reported further that anonymous sources close to Pelosi agreed that her history of benefiting from stock trades while serving was a blemish on her otherwise historic legacy.
“Her main reason for resisting the idea, the people close to her said, was that Republicans targeted Ms. Pelosi personally in their efforts to address the matter, and she did not want to cede any ground to attacks that implied she was corrupt,” the Times reported.
The news outlet also noted that Pelosi became “exponentially” wealthier during her years in office, to the point where there was a cottage industry of copycats who would mimic her husband’s trade and even a “Pelosi Tracker” app made to streamline the process.
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Nancy Pelosi will step down from Congress in 2027. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
“You can’t argue with the return on Nancy Pelosi’s time in Congress,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told the news publication. “She outperformed the S&P 500 by more than double in 2024.”
Pelosi has reported a trade volume of $56.9 million over the past three years, according to Capitol Trades.
But years after her initial dismissal of concerns about trading, Pelosi has pivoted somewhat. In recent years, she said she’d support a ban that also applied to the Supreme Court and judicial branch, and now she has no caveats about supporting a congressional stock trading ban if it comes to a vote.
Reps. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, are working on bipartisan legislation that appears to have momentum to pass and be signed into law by President Donald Trump. It would bar members of Congress and their spouses, dependent children, and trustees “from owning, buying or selling individual stocks, securities, commodities, futures, and other comparable assets,” the Times reported.
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Then-President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on May 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
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When contacted by Digital, a spokesman for Pelosi declared, “Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks and has no knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” and linked to a statement expressing support for a congressional stock trading ban.
Pelosi comes from a powerful political family and has long been well-off, and much of her and her husband’s wealth is also derived from real estate investments. The first and only woman to be Speaker of the House, she held the role from 2007 to 2011 and then again from 2019 to 2023.
