WASHINGTON -- White House spokesman Jay Carney grumbled about House Republicans plan to revise the STOCK Act - legislation that has already been passed in the Senate that explicitly makes it illegal for members of Congress, their staffs and many executive-branch employees to trade stocks and other securities based on inside information learned on the job.
"I was shocked to see that even this simple bill that would ensure that everyone plays by the rules is being weakened" Carney said on Wednesday. "This should not be a partisan issue."
Carney charged that House Republicans are attempting to water down the bill by stripping certain provisions, including an amendment to the bill -- backed by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. -- that tightens laws against public corruption, including a ban on gifts to public officials of more than $1,000 in value.
The insider trading ban is "being weakened behind closed doors by House Republicans who seem to be caving to pressure from Wall Street lobbyists," Carney added.
The GOP plan also strips an amendment that would require so-called political intelligence firms to register and file disclosure reports from their bill. Such firms try to glean information from lawmakers that is then passed on to investors. Political intelligence industry insiders had complained that the Senate provision was too broad.
"It's astonishing and extremely disappointing that the House would fulfill Wall Street's wishes by killing this provision," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who offered the political intelligence amendment. "The Senate clearly voted to try to shed light on an industry that's behind the scenes."
While the Senate version passed 96-3 last week, some GOP lawmakers said that all White House officials should be covered by the inside trading ban. The House GOP plan widens its reach to cover about 30,000 members of the executive branch-including the president, vice president, Cabinet secretaries and Senate-confirmed officials, noted Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.
"Particularly with this administration's deep reach into the private sector, we believe executive branch officials should not be exempt from the rules and greater disclosure required of members of Congress," Buck said.
USA Today