Jessica Tarlov Urges Democrats to Put Stock-Trade Ban, Age Limits First

Jessica Tarlov says the first thing the new Democratic majorities should pass is an ethics package that bans stock trading by members of Congress and takes on age limits. She added that getting there means dealing with senior members of her own party.

Tarlov, a Democratic strategist and co-host of Fox News' The Five, made the case on Wednesday's episode of Raging Moderates, the podcast she hosts with NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway. The episode was recorded the day after Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate. On the episode, Galloway said Trump ignored the results in his first public remarks since the Republican losses.

"Top of the agenda for Democrats, an ethics package. That includes banning stock trades, taking on age limits," Tarlov said.

Jessica Tarlov's Ethics Package Pitch

She brought the subject up near the end of the episode, while discussing what House Democrats plan to investigate. "That's something we didn't mention earlier in the episode, and we absolutely have to," she said.

Tarlov argued that speed matters as much as substance. "Like, everything that normal people tell you that they care about, you have to do, and you have to do it right away, so that they know that you weren't lying on the campaign trail, that you took these complaints seriously," she said.

She then acknowledged where the resistance might come from. "And that's gonna be some tough work, 'cause there are a lot of old, powerful Democrats that are still floating around Washington with committee heads," Tarlov said.

She named no one, and it was a passing line. She moved straight on to Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, and his plans for investigations.

The remark matched a theme from the start of the episode. There, Tarlov said "we talk a lot about the old folks who won't get out of the way" and praised "this new generation of unbelievable political talent just beating down the door." Galloway warned that the voters who swung toward Democrats are "rented not owned."

Congressional Stock Trading Ban: Why None Has Passed

The last major law in this area is now 14 years old. The STOCK Act, which President Barack Obama signed on April 4, 2012, confirmed that insider-trading laws apply to members of Congress and required them to report trades. It did not ban trading. Members must disclose their trades within 45 days, Roll Call reported.

Proposals for an actual ban have stalled in every Congress since. Earlier this year, a bipartisan bill called the Restore Trust in Congress Act fell apart. House Democrats pushed to extend its limits to the president and vice president, and each party blamed the other for the collapse, Roll Call reported.

The House then went its own way. On July 22, it passed the Stop Insider Trading Act, from Wisconsin Republican Representative Bryan Steil. The roll call was 232 to 198. All 218 Republicans voting backed it, along with 13 Democrats and one independent, while 198 Democrats voted no and one did not vote.

Public opinion has been far less divided. An Economist/YouGov poll conducted May 22-26 found that 76 percent of Americans say members of Congress and other elected officials should not be allowed to buy and sell individual stocks. Six percent said they should be. The figures were 80 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of independents.

• Should not be allowed to trade: 76 percent
• Should be allowed: 6 percent
• Democrats / Republicans / independents opposed: 80 / 77 / 72 percent

Age Limits and Democratic Committee Leaders

Age limits would mean a bigger change. Under the seniority system, committee gavels in a new majority usually go to the party's ranking members, and several of them are among the oldest people in Congress.

Twenty-four members of the current Congress are 80 or older, Fox News reported. Among them is California Representative Maxine Waters, who turned 88 before Election Day and is the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, 83, is the top Democrat on House Appropriations. She told Roll Call in February that she would seek that gavel again if Democrats won the House.

The party's own image gives the debate extra weight. Democrats are viewed favorably by 39.3 percent of Americans and unfavorably by 58.3 percent, according to PolitiKool's polling average.

What Happens Next

The current Congress returns for a lame-duck session before the new majorities are sworn in in January. Republicans still control both chambers until then.

After that, the question becomes whether Democratic leaders push their own stock ban to the floor, and whether anyone takes up age or term limits for committee chairs. Either step would test how far members are willing to go in limiting themselves.