Matt Gaetz, AOC Team Up to Prevent Congress Trading Stocks

Representatives Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as "AOC" (D-NY), have joined forces to cosponsor a bill that would prohibit members of Congress from owning and trading stocks.

Named the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act, any member of Congress or their families who own stocks must divest themselves of the stocks within 90 days of the bill's adoption. An exception for government bonds or "widely-held investment funds," which include U.S. Treasury bills or Thrift Savings Plan investments, is also included.

Rep. Gaetz appeared on Fox News's Jesse Watters Primetime to discuss the bill, slipping in a crack at controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

"Congressional stock trading has all the fairness of a Lia Thomas swimming competition. I will work with anyone and everyone to ensure Congress is not so compromised. Members of Congress should no longer be allowed to trade and own stocks," Rep. Gaetz stated.

Watters asked Gaetz how he formed an alliance with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez despite the vast political chasm between the two. Gaetz answered that while he and AOC disagree on nearly everything, "she's not corrupt."

"AOC is wrong a lot, she'd probably say the same thing about me, but she's not corrupt. And I will work with anyone and everyone to ensure that Congress is not so compromised," said Gaetz.

The Florida Congressman compared allowing Representatives to own and trade stocks to "letting the referee bet on the game," adding that nearly $800 million in securities have been traded by members of Congress.

Watters then asked what the negotiation process with AOC was like.

"We did negotiate heavily over this," answered Gaetz. "And my colleagues [Representatives] Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) also working with us on it, and we wanted to make sure that members of Congress couldn't just have a veneer to have a family member trading the stock for them. So perhaps it's the "Pelosi Provision" of our legislation that does not allow spouses to do these trades on behalf of their family members and would require any blind trust to very quickly sell those stocks so the American people know we're working for them, not our own pocketbooks," Gaetz concluded.