After Leading Efforts to Ban Congressional Stock Trading, Ocasio-Cortez Admits to Financial Violations

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has in the past led efforts from members of both parties to ban stock trading by members of Congress, admitted through a spokesperson that she has not complied with financial disclosure rules for sitting members of Congress.

Under the 2012 STOCK Act, which greatly increased scrutiny on stock market transactions by members of Congress, congress members are required to publicly disclose their transactions.

Ocasio-Cortez, who was due to disclose her own stock transactions on Aug. 13, has failed to do so, a spokesperson for the congresswoman said.

In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Lauren Hitt, Ocasio-Cortez’s communications director, said that Ocasio-Cortez is in no rush to comply with the STOCK Act rules, which grant members of Congress a 30-day grace period before fines begin to accumulate.

“The committee provides a 30-day grace period before fines are levied. The congresswoman plans to file before the period expires,” Hitt said.

The fine for failure to disclose within a month of the due date is minuscule—only $200.

However, it flies in the face of past comments by the New York Democrat, who has said that leaving the public in the dark about the financial transactions of members of Congress reduces trust in the democratic system.

Ocasio-Cortez is among the 10 members of Congress, including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich), who have yet to file their disclosures.

This is not the first time that Ocasio-Cortez has failed to comply with STOCK Act rules in a timely manner. In September 2021, the congresswoman exploited the 30-day grace period to its limit, submitting her disclosure on day 30 to narrowly avoid the fine.

Over the course of the 116th and 117th Congresses, bipartisan calls for stricter laws on congressional stock trading have burgeoned, and in the