Pelosi Endorses PELOSI Act as Pressure Builds & Trump’s Callout

After years of scrutiny and skepticism surrounding congressional stock trades, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stepped into the spotlight with a bold reversal: she’s now backing a proposal to ban lawmakers and their spouses from trading individual stocks, and the legislation is named after her.

Dubbed the “PELOSI Act” - “Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act” - the bill is being spearheaded by Sens. Josh Hawley and Kirsten Gillibrand in a rare bipartisan effort. Once a flashpoint for criticism over her household's successful trades, Pelosi has now offered her “proud” support of the measure.

“I don’t care what they call it,” Pelosi told reporters, “I just want them to do it.”

It’s a sharp pivot from her earlier position in 2021, when she defended lawmakers' right to participate in the market as “a free market economy.” That stance sparked public backlash and intensified calls for reform, especially as watchdogs and media investigations highlighted suspiciously timed trades from several members of Congress.

Now, momentum is building fast. On July 30, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8–7 to advance the legislation, now under a new name: the Honest Act. The revised version goes even further, aiming to apply the trading restrictions not just to Congress, but eventually to the President and Vice President as well. However, the bill includes a grandfather clause, which implies that the restrictions wouldn’t apply to Donald Trump or Vice President J.D. Vance while they remain in office.

And that's where the political tension escalates.

In a tense CNN interview, host Jake Tapper brought up former President Donald Trump's claim that Pelosi had engaged in insider trading. Pelosi, visibly irritated, called the accusation “beneath the dignity” of the conversation and snapped, “You’re wasting your time with that.” She clarified that she doesn’t own any stocks and has no involvement in her husband’s investments.

Trump, meanwhile, took to Truth Social to reignite the criticism. He accused Pelosi of profiting off privileged information while in office and labeled Sen. Josh Hawley, the Republican behind the bill, a “second-tier senator.” The move was seen as a swipe at Hawley for advancing a bill that might theoretically restrict Trump’s own post-term business activities.

Despite the attack, Hawley said he and Trump had a “good chat” afterward and claimed Trump misunderstood the bill’s implications, particularly that it wouldn't force him to divest assets like Mar-a-Lago. Still, the rift highlights a growing division among Republicans on how far ethics reform should go. Some GOP senators have criticized the bill’s reach and the process by which it’s moving forward.

Despite the late arrival to the cause, Pelosi’s endorsement, combined with the Senate committee’s narrow green light, could be the turning point ethics legislation has long needed.