'Do something else': Mark Kelly slams Mike Johnson over defense of congressional stock trading

Senator Mark Kelly slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson over a clip of him defending lawmakers making stock trades, claiming they need to "take care of their family." Kelly accused Johnson of protecting President Donald Trump, who recently disclosed making trades worth $220 million in the past year. The senator who has long criticized the practice argued that all elected officials, cabinet members, and presidents should be banned from trading stocks while in office.

Last year, Johnson defended congressional stock trading, claiming people need to be sympathetic to the lawmakers, as their pay has been frozen for decades. "Well, look, you know, the salary of Congress has been frozen since 2009. You know, when you adjust for inflation, a member of Congress today is making 31 percent less than they made in that year. It goes down every year," Johnson said. He further claimed that if the trajectory is maintained, there will be "less qualified" people willing to make the "extreme sacrifice" to run for Congress. "I have some sympathy. At least let them, like, engage in some stock trading, so that they can continue to, you know, take care of their family," he added. 

Sharing the clip on X, Kelly expressed that he was not surprised by Johnson's claims, as he was performing for the president, who made hundreds of millions worth in stock trades. "I've got a better idea: ban Mike Johnson, Donald Trump, every cabinet member, and every member of Congress from trading stocks and making money off of their jobs. If they don't like it, they can do something else," Kelly scathed. 

According to official records, rank-and-file members of Congress make $174,000 a year, and the Speaker makes $223,500, with top party leaders making $193,400. As Johnson said, those salaries have been fixed since 2009; thus, after inflation, the lawmakers have taken a pay cut of roughly 30%. However, the issue of their making stock trades has been controversial as they often have inside information on policies that impact the market. A report published last year revealed that the 119th Congress, 202 Representatives and 56 Senators, had made 13,324 trades in 2025, totaling a whopping $635.57 million. 

Furthermore, last week, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics released filings showing Trump made over 3,600 stock transactions worth between $220 million and $750 million in the first quarter of 2026. The purchases included securities linked to companies like Oracle, Meta Platforms, Bank of America, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs, all of which have been impacted by his administration's policies. While a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told Reuters that the President's holdings are maintained by third-party financial institutions with "sole exclusive authority," several lawmakers have raised questions on the nature of the trades. 

Kelly, along with Sen. Jon Ossoff, had previously introduced their Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, which would direct all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to place their stocks into a qualified blind trust or divest the holding to prevent the use of inside information. The senators noted that Americans overwhelmingly supported the policy, with 86% of them backing the measure.