Elizabeth Warren bill would ban lawmakers from owning individual stocks

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to ban members of Congress and the White House staff from owning individual stocks — and replace them with government-managed investment accounts.

Those are just two of the dozens of proposals dotting the Massachusetts Democrat’s sweeping new legislative package, the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, which she unveiled Tuesday. Warren said the bill is designed to “eliminate the influence of money in federal government.”

While the measure is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, it comes amid speculation that Warren could run for president in 2020. President Donald Trump ran on “draining the swamp,” but his administration has been racked with corruption scandals, while many of Trump’s private businesses have reaped financial gains during the early stages of his term.

Warren’s bill would also impose a lifetime ban on lobbying for presidents and federal lawmakers, and would bar U.S. lobbyists from using foreign cash to affect American policy. It would slap new taxes on “excessive lobbying” of more than $500,000 a year. It would bind Supreme Court justices to a code of conduct recognized by other federal judges.

And, in an apparent jab at Trump, the measure would require presidential candidates to share years of previous tax returns and continue doing so every year if they win. Trump broke with tradition and did not release his tax returns during the 2016 campaign.

But in remarks she made Tuesday morning at the National Press Club, Warren said that the roots of political corruption, which have eroded Americans’ trust in the government, go back decades before Trump took office.

“This problem is far bigger than Trump,” Warren said. “It is a crisis. A crisis of faith.”