Elizabeth Warren says it's 'obvious' why lawmakers shouldn't trade stocks 'whether you're a Republican senator or the Democratic speaker of the House'

• Elizabeth Warren says banning lawmakers from trading stocks should be a key priority for Democrats.
• She says it's "obvious" to the American people "whether you're a Republican senator or the Democratic speaker of the House."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts says that banning members of Congress from trading stocks should be a top priority for Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

In a New York Times op-ed published on Monday, the liberal firebrand and 2020 presidential candidate outlined several priorities that she believes can help her party avoid "big losses in the midterms," including passing a reconciliation bill that includes provisions of the original "Build Back Better" climate and social spending bill while delegating some aspects of that legislation to President Joe Biden's executive authority.

But beyond that, Warren cited polling showing that the public has "identified corrupt government officials as a top concern."

"They're right," the Massachusetts Democrat wrote. "To tackle the urgent challenges we face — climate change, income inequality, systemic injustice — we must root out corruption. To start cleaning up government, members of Congress and their spouses shouldn't be allowed to own or trade individual stocks."

Insider's "Conflicted Congress" investigation, which has found that nearly 60 members of Congress and more than 180 senior congressional staffers have failed to promptly disclose their stock trades in compliance with federal law, also documented several instances in which members of Congress were serving on committees overseeing certain industries even as they were personally invested in those industries.

Warren then made an implicit jab at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who initially drew criticism for her strident opposition to a stock trading ban before later warming to the idea, provided her caucus supports it.

"Whether you're a Republican senator or the Democratic speaker of the House, it is obvious to the American people that they should not be allowed to trade individual stocks and then vote on laws that affect those companies," wrote Warren, noting that her own bill to ban the practice — the "Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act" — is the most sweeping and currently the only bipartisan stock trading ban bill in the Senate.

Warren has been among the more aggressive proponents of banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks, telling Insider in February that she'd like to see the idea extended to state legislators and governors as well.

The senator's op-ed comes as lawmakers in both chambers look to come to an agreement on legislation that would address an issue that polling shows is widely popular with the American public.

Following the House's first hearing on reforming stock trading rules for lawmakers, 19 bipartisan House members are pressuring the Committee on House Administration to move towards marking up a bill.

And in the Senate, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley says that all of his Democratic colleagues are on board with the basic idea, but argued that time is running out for lawmakers to come to an agreement on a plan, given the nature of a midterm election year.