Last year, 105 congressmembers bought and sold nearly $290 million worth in stock, according to a report from Unusual Whales, an alternative options alert tool that tracks strange trading activities by lawmakers. In short, Unusual Whales concluded that Congress beat the S&P 500.
As lawmakers oversaw military contracts, infrastructure legislation, and cryptocurrency regulation, some took advantage of their position as elected officials and made trades during these negotiations, yielding absurd gains. While this group of lawmakers is a minority, both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate engaged in this sketchy behavior.
The report is imperfect, but it’s a sobering reminder of why public approval of Congress floats between 10 and 30 percent, the early days of the pandemic being a rare exception.
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