Matt Gaetz, AOC Applauded for Stocks Bill Partnership: 'Need More of This'

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz and Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are being praised for setting aside partisanship and joining forces to back a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

Ocasio-Cortez and Gaetz, alongside Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi and Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, introduced the Restoring Faith in Government Act on Tuesday. The bipartisan bill would block members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependents, from owning, trading or selling stocks.

"The ability to individually trade stock erodes the public's trust in government," Ocasio-Cortez said in a release. "When Members have access to classified information, we should not be trading in the stock market on it. It's really that simple."

"As long as concerns about insider trading hang over the legislative process, Congress will never regain the trust of the American people," said Gaetz. "Our responsibility in Congress is to serve the people, not hedge bets on the stock market."

When contacted by Newsweek, a spokesperson for Gaetz declined to comment further on the congressman reaching across the aisle to work with Ocasio-Cortez and Democrats. A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez also declined comment.

Fitzpatrick, the legislation's chief sponsor, said that the bill being sponsored by members of Congress from across "the entirety of the political spectrum" should serve as a "powerful message" that Republicans and Democrats "can find common ground on key issues."

"We must move forward on issues that unite us, including our firm belief that trust in government must be restored," Fitzpatrick said. "I thank Representatives Ocasio-Cortez, Gaetz, and Krishnamoorthi for joining me in this effort."

The bipartisan nature of the bill, and Ocasi-Cortez and Gaetz joining forces in particular, was also praised on social media. Some said that more examples of Republicans and Democrats working together were needed in an increasingly divided American political landscape.

"This is something we haven't seen in a while," tweeted @bigmoodMF. "2 party extremes coming together to actually improve our country and stop corruption. Bravo to both of them. Need to see more like this coming out of congress!"

"I would never have thought in a million years AOC and Matt Gaetz could agree on anything but I definitely support this bill," @Shawnscanlon5 tweeted.

"What world am I living in that Matt Gaetz and AOC would find common ground on something a lot of people agree with," tweeted @the_okayest.

"That is great," @alexphil1965 tweeted. "You guys should make a list of everything you can agree on and work on it. That would blow some minds."

"[Clapping hands emoji] to both of you," tweeted @indysixsix. "Need more of this."

"We need to see more of this bilateral cooperation," @keithboucher15 tweeted.

"Awesome, good to see bipartisan efforts!!!" tweeted @GabbysFire

"Credit where credit is due: This bill by AOC and Matt Gaetz makes all kinds of sense," @bradheitmann tweeted. "More of this pls."

Watchdog group Citizens for Ethics (CREW) said that the bill was a "no-brainer," while noting that polls have shown a large majority of Americans support banning stock trading for members of Congress.

"It's not every day that Matt Gaetz and AOC agree," CREW tweeted. "But they're not alone: 70% of Americans believe members of Congress need to be banned from trading stocks. This is reform a no-brainer."

Despite the bill's seemingly unlikely co-sponsors, the proposal is hardly breaking any new ground. A similar bill to "end corrupt stock trading activities by members of Congress" was proposed last month by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, alongside Krishnamoorthi and GOP Representative Michael Cloud.

The chances of a ban actually being enacted may be slim. The firm Quiver Quantitative pointed out in a tweet that many similar efforts have been proposed in recent years, with none of them even being voted on.

"AOC and Matt Gaetz have just cosponsored a bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading," the firm tweeted. "Sound promising? Keep in mind that within the last 5 years, there have already been 12 proposed bills to regulate Congress trading. Not a single one has even been brought to a vote."

Although Gaetz and Ocasio-Cortez are generally considered ideological opposites, they have at times been spotted speaking with each other in Congress and have had other rare agreements about legislation.

Update 05/03/2023, 4:39 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to reflect that a spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez declined comment.