Representative Suzan DelBene (D-WA), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, recently disclosed stock sales worth between $1.25 million and $5.5 million, executed by her husband in August 2022 and March 2023. These disclosures, filed on June 14th, significantly exceeded the 45-day reporting deadline mandated by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012.

This delay has raised concerns about congressional adherence to financial disclosure laws and fueled discussions regarding potential conflicts of interest. Experts like Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, government affairs manager at the Project on Government Oversight, point to a pattern of late disclosures among members of Congress, highlighting the erosion of public trust such actions can cause. He notes that congressional trading activity often outperforms market averages, creating an “appearance of impropriety.”

A DelBene spokesperson attributed the delayed reporting to a pre-arranged forward contract tied to her husband Kurt DelBene's prior employment at Microsoft. This contract, established and disclosed in March 2022 after his confirmation for a role at the Department of Veterans Affairs, outlines a schedule of stock sales. The spokesperson emphasized that the contract was vetted by ethics experts and the VA, adding that the separate reporting of these transactions was done for transparency after consultations with the House Ethics Committee and the VA. While the initial forward contract disclosure indicated stock sales would occur every six months, the House Ethics Committee manual still requires reporting individual transactions exceeding $1,000.

Legal experts like Kedric Payne, vice president and general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, acknowledge the missed deadline and argue that repeated violations of the STOCK Act demonstrate the inadequacy of current disclosure requirements. He advocates for stricter regulations, potentially including a ban on individual stock ownership by members of Congress. The incident underscores the ongoing debate regarding congressional stock trading and the need for greater transparency and accountability.

Ironically, Rep. DelBene is a co-sponsor of the TRUST in Congress Act, which aims to prohibit members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks. This bill was reintroduced in January 2023, adding another layer of complexity to the situation.