Jesse Scheckner
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz is facing criticism following revelations that he purchased tens of thousands of dollars in stocks on the same day he publicly criticized President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is targeting Moskowitz’s seat representing Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, said the move reeks of hypocrisy.
“Jared Moskowitz is in Congress to get attention and line his own pockets, not serve Floridians,” NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole said in a statement.
A report this week from Business Insider detailed that on April 7, Moskowitz bought between $20,000 and $300,000 in stocks across 20 companies — including Amazon, Lockheed Martin, NVIDIA and Oracle — while the market reeled from Trump’s April 2 announcement of new tariffs.
That same day, the Parkland Congressman took to X to express dismay over the state of the markets, sarcastically asking if “they can bring back the old stock market.”
Moskowitz’s well-timed investments paid off. On April 9, Trump paused the tariffs for 90 days, sending stocks rebounding. The Florida Democrat also sold shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings and NextEra Energy that same day.
A spokesperson for Moskowitz told Business Insider his investments are managed by a third-party financial adviser. Moskowitz also recently signed onto the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act to curb congressional stock trading.
Moskowitz is not alone in facing scrutiny over suspiciously timed stock trades. Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia disclosed that she made multiple stock purchases totaling tens of thousands of dollars during the same window of market volatility sparked by Trump’s tariff announcement.
Democrats similarly questioned whether Greene had advanced knowledge of Trump’s policy reversal, though she denied any wrongdoing, stating that a financial adviser manages her investments.
The issue of congressional stock trading has become increasingly controversial in recent years. Critics argue that lawmakers have access to privileged information that gives them an unfair advantage in the market.
On X, an account named the Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker that chronicles former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s market activity has attracted more than 1 million followers. The man who runs it, Chris Josephs, told Salon in March that he initially launched the account as something of a joke.
“But once I started diving a little bit into it, I started realizing … they’re making a lot of money on it,” he told the outlet.
Greene, Moskowitz and Pelosi are hardly outliers in being both federally elected officials and active market traders. And federal strictures require members of Congress to report all trades they and their families make within 45 days.
Efforts to ban lawmakers from trading stocks have gained momentum in recent weeks. President Donald Trump said he would sign legislation outlawing the practice. On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he said he is “in favor” of the move too.
“I don’t think we should have any appearance of impropriety here,” he said during a Wednesday news conference, but added he has “some sympathy” for those who argue that forcing federal lawmakers to rely on a long-frozen $174,000 salary could disincentivize less qualified and well-to-do people from seeking office.
“The counterargument, and I have some sympathy, (is) at least let them engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to, you know, take care of their family,” he said.
Meanwhile, multiple bills including the TRUST in Congress Act and the PELOSI Act by Montana Republican U.S. Rep. Josh Hawley are circulating in Congress, aiming to either ban lawmakers from trading stocks entirely or require them to place their holdings in blind trusts.
