Look, I get the concern about conflicts of interest. It sounds clean and simple to just ban stock trading for public officials. But that simplicity is deceiving. The problem isn't trading itself—it's insider trading and disclosure failures, which are already illegal. We don't ban driving because some people speed. What a blanket ban would actually do is drive good people away from public service. You want talented lawyers, business leaders, and investors to serve in government? Then don't force them to liquidate their entire portfolios or put everything into blind trusts with huge fees. The public loses access to expertise. And let's be real—members of Congress already have to disclose trades within 45 days under the STOCK Act. The issue is enforcement, not the activity itself. We should strengthen penalties for insider trading, not ban a basic financial freedom that most Americans enjoy.

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