Senator Jon Ossoff to re-introduce bill banning Congressional insider stock trading

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene purchased as much as $285,000 worth of stock in the market turmoil immediately following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2. These purchases included up to $30,000 of Palantir stock the week before the company signed a $30 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Rep. Greene, a close ally of the Trump White House, sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, which oversees ICE.

By contrast, Sen. Jon Ossoff has been leading efforts in Congress for years to ban members of Congress from owning stock in individual companies.

Read the reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution here:

AJC: Greene’s stock trading during tariff sell-off leads to renewed calls for a ban
Tia Mitchell and Phoebe Quinton; May 2, 2025

KEY POINTS FROM THE ARTICLE:

• In the 48 hours after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of tariffs on goods from around the globe, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went on a buying spree.

• Nineteen stock purchases worth up to $285,000 were made on her behalf for shares of companies like Amazon, UPS and Lululemon.

• Greene’s purchase of stocks for tech company Palantir has drawn specific criticism. Purchases made April 8-9 worth up to $30,000 came a week before the company was awarded a $30 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Greene also made a Palantir stock purchase in February of up to $15,000.

• Since January, she also has acquired U.S. Treasury bills worth up to $1.35 million. (House Ethics Rules only require amounts to be reported in ranges.)

• Typically, when there is turmoil with the stock markets investors often pivot to purchase U.S. government bonds, which are seen as safer bets. But after Trump’s tariff announcement, many investors sold off their bonds, including Greene who on April 8 sold up to $100,000 worth of her Treasury bills.

• U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who won his seat after raising concerns about then-Sen. David Perdue’s stock trading in 2020, said Greene’s portfolio is another example of a troubling pattern.

• Ossoff put his liquid assets into a blind trust shortly after taking office. Last year, he introduced legislation that would ban members of Congress and their families, as well as the president and vice president, from owning stock in individual companies.

• That bill was passed in committee but never made it to the floor for a vote. Ossoff said he is working with colleagues from both parties in hopes of introducing similar legislation during the current congressional session.

• “Members have access to confidential information by virtue of our committee assignments, our access to classified information, and the cozy political relationships that members may have with White House officials or regulators,” Ossoff told The AJC. “It should have been banned years ago.”