KEY POINTS
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scoffed at the idea of banning congressional lawmakers and their spouses from owning shares of individual companies.
  • "We're a free market economy," Pelosi said. "They should be able to participate in that."
  • Stock purchases by some senators since the beginning of the Covid pandemic have sparked investigations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scoffed Wednesday at the idea of banning congressional lawmakers and their spouses from owning shares of individual companies, despite the possibilities for conflicts of interest between their legislative duties and personal finances.

"No," Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters at a news conference where she was asked whether she would support such a prohibition.