Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) dismissed the idea of directing his financial advisers to halt any stock trades amid his difficulties in establishing a blind trust that meets his standards, suggesting he would “lose money and go broke.”
Bresnahan, who has come under heat for continuing stock trades carried out by his advisers despite writing in support of banning congressional stock trades while campaigning for his seat, made the comment in an interview with local public news organization WVIA that was published Thursday.
While Bresnahan said he has not been involved with the stock trades directed by his financial advisers, the outlet noted that he could order his advisers to stop trading stocks.
“And then do what with it?” Bresnahan told WVIA. “Just leave it all in the accounts and just leave it there and lose money and go broke?”
Bresnahan, a businessman whose net worth is estimated to be in the multimillions, has said he would like to form a blind trust that would block him from having any control or knowledge of trades made on his behalf. But Bresnahan said he wants to use his existing financial advisers and wants to instruct the trustee to avoid investments that benefit foreign adversaries and avoid shorting American companies — running into problems with the House Ethics Committee.
“So, you would have to then find someone else that would even consider taking you to manage through a trustee account,” Bresnahan told WVIA. “So, it became a disaster.”
Last week, Bresnahan’s lawyer sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee saying that the Pennsylvania congressman prohibited his advisers from those types of investments or trades, the Washington Examiner reported. The letter also said Bresnahan is not consulted about any trade and is informed of trades only after they are complete.
Bresnahan has also introduced a bill to ban stock trading for members of Congress and their spouses and is open to working with other members on the issue.
Still, Bresnahan has caught heat for being an active trader in Congress. The New York Times in April brought attention to Bresnahan continuing to trade despite writing a letter to the editor in The Citizens’ Voice local newspaper in 2024 calling to ban congressional stock trading.
The contrast between Bresnahan’s statement during the campaign and his continued stock trades has made the first-term swing-district congressman a top target of Democrats hoping to win back the seat in 2026.
“Multi-millionaire Rob Bresnahan is full of s‑‑‑,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Eli Cousin said in a statement in response to the WVIA interview. “He campaigned on a promise to ban congressional stock trading, but is now saying that he must continue his prolific trading in order to prevent himself from going broke. He doesn’t care about his constituents – he only cares about his bottom line.”
Bresnahan’s spokesperson Hannah Pope fired back by pointing to trades reported in former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) financial disclosures.
“Rep. Bresnahan was a small business owner before becoming a Member of Congress, and unlike the DCCC’s long-time benefactor, prolific stock trader Nancy Pelosi, he does not plan on being a Member of Congress for the rest of his career. He does not trade his own stocks and is unaware of what is traded or when,” Pope said in a statement.
The trades reported by Pelosi that have garnered scrutiny were made by her husband, Paul Pelosi, according to the disclosures, and Pelosi has thrown her support behind an effort to ban stock trading by members of Congress.
Bresnahan’s spokesperson continued: “He believes Members of Congress should not be allowed to profit off the information they are entrusted with, which is why he introduced legislation to ban Congressional stock trading, restoring the integrity Americans expect and deserve from their government. As a Member of Congress, his number one focus will always be the people of Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District.”
Bresnahan’s comments come as legislative action on stock trading bans heat up. A Senate committee this week advanced a bill to ban congressional stock trading, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has pledged to file a discharge petition to try to force a vote on a bill to ban stock trading in the House.
