Thanks to reader Alex.

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🇺🇸 Speaker Johnson just defended congressional stock trading because lawmakers' salaries have been frozen since 2009.

"At least let them engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to take care of their family."

$174,000 a year.

That's the poverty line Johnson is… https://t.co/OdYIn0ZIXW> pic.twitter.com/9HYFTeRSNa

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 16, 2026

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2055626822377767057

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson today asked for sympathy for members of Congress who trade stocks to supplement their income.

"The salary of Congress has been frozen since 2009," he said.

"At least let them engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to take care of their family."

However, trading and investing is not the problem that Americans take issue with. The issue is insider trading. Speaker Johnson knows this.

Story after story has come out about the increase in wealth of members once they get into office.

Having spent close to 20 years on Wall Street myself; it is a well-known fact that well over 95% of fund managers cannot beat the market. The only way members of Congress 'beat the market' and get rich is trading on information that is privileged, meaning, insider information, which is illegal.

Legally, no exemption for Congress to insider trading law exists. In practice, the combination of vague standards, political realities, and weak oversight makes successful prosecutions extremely rare. This fuels public skepticism about whether the rules are applied evenly.

Enforcement Reality

Trading itself is allowed — Members can (and many do) buy/sell individual stocks, as long as they don't use material nonpublic information from their jobs.

Enforcement is weak — No member of Congress has ever been criminally prosecuted or convicted specifically under the STOCK Act for insider trading. campaignlegal.org

Disclosure violations (late or missing reports) happen frequently, with weak penalties (e.g., a $200 fine for first offenses). Many members have been flagged for late filings. businessinsider.com

Investigations have occurred (e.g., some senators' trades around early COVID-19 briefings in 2020), but they typically closed without charges. en.wikipedia.org

The median U.S. congressional salary is $174,000. 70% of Americans can't cover a $1,000 emergency.