In a rare but much-needed bipartisan effort by the House of Representatives, lawmakers introduced legislation to ban senior federal employees and their spouses from trading stocks.

Henry Rodgers of The Daily Caller was the first to obtain the legislation. Texas Republican Rep. Michael Cloud and Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden will introduce the bill “The DIVEST Act.”

Before introducing the legislation, Cloud told the Daily Caller:

“A great disservice is done to our nation when public servants are able to profit off access to sensitive information while working on behalf of the American people … We must do all we can to ensure government officials are serving Americans, not their own stock portfolio.”

According to a Trafalgar Group/Convention of States Action poll, a whopping 76 percent of Americans likely to vote in general elections said lawmakers should not be allowed to trade stocks while in office.

As I previously reported, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) for a hearing to consider bipartisan proposals to ban insider stock trading by members of Congress and their spouses.

As Hawley introduced the legislation, he said:

“It’s time to stop turning a blind eye to Washington profiteering … Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform the market, buying and selling millions in stocks of companies they’re supposed to be regulating. Wall Street and Big Tech work hand-in-hand with elected officials to enrich each other at the expense of the country.”

It seems to be a bipartisan agreement in the Senate, too, as Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) also wants to ban insider stock trading.

As we know, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is among the more prominent politicians benefiting from insider trading. Hawley suggested he calls his legislation the “Pelosi Act.”

Ban stock trading by members of Congress & their spouses. Call it the Pelosi Act https://t.co/pMpl4sQC6N

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 18, 2022

Congressman James Comer stated previously:

“Nancy Pelosi is the ultimate insider … Not only is her husband buying stock options on a much higher level than the average member of Congress … The average member of Congress may buy $5,000 or $6,000 of stock. He’s buying $500,000 worth of stock. He’s buying stock options which expire. To be able to trade stock options profitably, you have to know exactly which direction that stock’s going to move, and you can make a huge profit. This is wrong. This is another example of the media turning a blind eye to Nancy Pelosi’s bad behavior and unethical behavior.”

It is long overdue for politicians to be barred from insider trading, raking in millions of dollars, while everyday Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck.