BREAKING House Speaker Mike Johnson just said members of Congress should be allowed to trade stocks because a $174,000 salary “isn’t enough” — while representing one of the poorest states in America.
Johnson was asked this week about bipartisan efforts to ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks while they’re in office. Instead of saying “yes, of course we should stop obvious insider trading,” he complained that congressional pay has been frozen since 2009 and has effectively dropped by around 30% when you factor in inflation.
His solution wasn’t to cut corruption — it was to defend it. “At least let them, like, engage in some stock trading so that they can continue to take care of their family,” he said.
Let’s be really clear about the math he’s crying over. Members of Congress make $174,000 a year. They get taxpayer‑funded health insurance, generous pensions, and up to $8,700 a year in automatic retirement contributions — whether they show up to votes or not. They get paid during shutdowns.
Many can still pull income from businesses, book deals, speaking fees, and spousal jobs. And Johnson wants us to feel so bad for them that we keep the door open for them to personally profit from the very companies they regulate.
Now zoom out to Louisiana, the state that sent Johnson to Washington. It’s the second‑poorest state in America by median income, with more than one in four children living in poverty and some of the worst life expectancy numbers in the country.
A full‑time minimum‑wage worker there makes barely $15,000 a year. Teachers, nurses, and service workers scrape by on a fraction of what Johnson makes — with none of his perks, none of his security, and exactly zero access to privileged information about upcoming legislation that might move a stock price.
Most Americans don’t get to “engage in some stock trading” based on closed‑door briefings about new tariffs, defense contracts, or drug‑pricing bills. If they tried to trade on inside information from their jobs, they’d risk prison.
In Congress, it’s treated like a fringe benefit — and the guy holding the Speaker’s gavel just went on camera to say that’s how they “take care of their family.”
This is why trust in government is in the basement. The people making the laws talk about “sacrifice” while pulling six‑figure salaries and fighting for their right to gamble on Wall Street with knowledge the rest of us will never have.
If Mike Johnson thinks $174,000 with full benefits isn’t enough to live on, maybe he should spend less time defending stock trades and more time talking to the workers in his own state who are trying to raise families on a tenth of that.
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