According to federal law, members of the House and Senate are required to file documents detailing their personal finances every year by May 15. However, a new report from Acccountable.US, a left-leaning anti-corruption group, found that nearly 60% of House members requested extra time to file their annual financial disclosure forms, with over 80% of those who filed extensions seeking an extra 90 days to do so. It is worth mentioning that a slight majority of those lawmakers, 54.5%, were Republicans.
While the extensions are completely legal, the frequency with which they are used highlights the flaws in the current ethics rules governing Congress. With routine delays in providing accurate and up-to-date information, it becomes challenging for voters to assess whether lawmakers may have a conflict of interest resulting from their assets, stock trades, agreements, and other financial arrangements that they are required to disclose.
Disclosures also allow the public to see additional details of lawmakers’ financial arrangements, including the money they are earning from book deals or the debts that they may be repaid from their campaigns. These latest findings come at a time when there is a growing effort to ban members of Congress from owning or trading stocks. Currently, lawmakers are required to disclose their stock trades within 30 days, but violations of that law are frequent and often go unpunished.
Several polls conducted in recent years have shown overwhelming support for a ban on congressional stock trading. The public sentiment stems from the belief that lawmakers may unduly benefit from stock holdings while in office. Some of the bills introduced to ban congressional stock trading also aim to strengthen existing enforcement mechanisms for violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which governs disclosures around stock trades but has long been considered toothless and inadequate.
In a statement accompanying the Accountable.US report, Liz Zelnick, director of the group’s Economic Security & Corporate Power Program, argued that the current status quo on disclosure allows lawmakers to “trade in secret by kicking the can on public disclosure, which only invites corruption and conflicts of interest.” Zelnick further added that if the House Majority is unwilling to act on popular and bipartisan efforts to prevent self-dealing on Wall Street and restore public trust in government, it would raise more questions about what they have to hide.
Despite several bills being introduced this year to ban stock trading in Congress, the Republican-controlled House has yet to take action on the issue, even though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy previously expressed support for a ban.
The ability for lawmakers to easily push back the deadline to file their personal financial disclosure forms raises concerns about transparency and accountability. While the practice is legal, the high number of extensions being filed suggests a need for stricter rules and enforcement mechanisms. It is crucial for voters to have access to accurate and timely information about their representatives’ finances to make informed decisions about conflicts of interest and potential corruption.
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