Democratic Rep. Donald Norcross wants to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks — so much so that he’s co-sponsored a bill aiming to do just that.
But Norcross himself just violated the transparency provisions of the existing Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, having disclosed a stock sale more than a year past a 45-day federal deadline, according to a NOTUS review of congressional financial documents.
In an email to NOTUS, Norcross acknowledged the stock-trade snafu, which involved up to $50,000 worth of Toronto-Dominion Bank stock shares in a retirement account.
The New Jersey congressman explained that he did not personally trade the stock and discovered the non-disclosure while preparing his annual personal financial disclosure, a requirement of all members of Congress.
“It was only when I was preparing my financial disclosure that I was made aware that there was an unauthorized sale of a stock in my long-held IRA retirement account,” Norcross said. “When I was notified of this sale, I self-reported it to the House Committee on Ethics and followed their guidance. At the advice of the House Committee on Ethics, I filed my financial disclosure and filed the periodic transaction report.”
The standard penalty for a first-time STOCK Act disclosure violation is $200. Norcross says the House Committee on Ethics waived this penalty — something the committee reserves the right to do.
House Committee on Ethics Chief Counsel Tom Rust declined to comment.
Norcross joins numerous other members of Congress caught violating the STOCK Act this year, including fellow Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dwight Evans, Jamie Raskin, Chellie Pingree, Shri Thanedar, George Whitesides, Ritchie Torres and Jonathan Jackson.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Reps. Dan Meuser, Lisa McClain, Austin Scott, Neal Dunn, Scott Franklin, Brandon Gill, Tim Moore and Troy Nehls also violated the act this year with late or improper financial disclosures.
And on Monday, Rep. Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, joined their ranks after failing to disclose the sale of up to $15,000 worth of shares in Yum China Holdings Inc. until a couple weeks after the STOCK Act’s 45-day deadline, a NOTUS review of congressional documents indicates.
Yum China Holdings Inc., which operates fast food restaurants across mainland China, is headquartered in Shanghai, and its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Rogers has been a strong critic of China.
Rogers spokesperson Danielle Smoot attributed the late filing to a “clerical error” that was “noticed during a regular review of Congressman Rogers’ transactions.
“The Committee on Ethics was immediately contacted to note an oversight and ensure correct reporting,” Smoot said, adding that Rogers was not issued a fine.
In May, Norcross signed on as a co-sponsor of the TRUST in Congress Act. As written, the bill would require federal lawmakers to place assets such as individual stock holdings in a qualified blind trust — a congressionally approved financial vehicle where a lawmaker has little control over, or knowledge of, his or her own personal finances.
Since then, a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers has unveiled the Restore Trust in Congress Act, an amalgamation of the TRUST in Congress Act and several other similar bills introduced this year.
The Restore Trust in Congress Act aims to ban members of Congress, their spouses and their dependents from owning or trading stocks altogether and is sponsored by an eclectic mix of liberals and conservatives, including Republican Reps. Chip Roy, Anna Paulina Luna, Rob Bresnahan, David Schweikert and Nancy Mace; and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Seth Magaziner and Ritchie Torres.
“I am a strong believer in members not being allowed to trade individual stocks,” Norcross told NOTUS, adding that he plans to sign on to a congressional stock-trade ban discharge petition that Luna says she’ll soon introduce in order to force a vote on the matter.
President Donald Trump on Monday expressed support for Luna’s discharge petition plan in a Truth Social post.