White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tore into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her eyebrow-raising stock trades, calling her the reason a congressional stock trading ban is even being discussed.
Leavitt recited a list of trades made by Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, which she claimed surpassed those of Warren Buffett and every hedge fund on Wall Street.
“The president has spoken to Senator Hawley, who called him, and the president took that call,” Leavitt said. “As the president said in the Roosevelt Room yesterday, conceptually, he of course supports the idea of ensuring that members of Congress and United States senators who are here for public service cannot enrich themselves.”
She didn’t hold back when naming names.
“And the reason that this idea—to put a ban on stock trading for members of Congress—is even a thing is because of Nancy Pelosi,” Leavitt said. “I mean, she is rightfully criticized because she makes, I think, $174,000 a year, yet she has a net worth of approximately $413 million.”
“In 2024, Nancy Pelosi’s stock portfolio—this was a fascinating statistic to me—grew 70% in one year, and her portfolio outperformed every single large hedge fund in that same year, and even more than doubled the returns of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.”
Leavitt said the president supports the public’s outrage.
“So I think the president stands with the American people on this. He doesn’t want to see people like Nancy Pelosi enriching themselves off of public service and ripping off their constituents in the process.”
“As for the mechanics of the legislation and how it will move forward,” she added, “the White House continues to be in discussions with our friends on Capitol Hill.”
This came after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, found himself on the receiving end of a harsh social media post by President Donald Trump.
Hawley is sponsoring a bill to ban members of Congress from being able to trade individual stocks.
An amendment to the bill would have carved out an exemption to allow the president to engage in stock trading, but Hawley joined Senate Democrats in voting “no.”
That prompted Trump to blast Hawley on Truth Social, calling him a “second-tier Senator.”
Hawley described the situation as a misunderstanding, telling Fox News that the bill exempts President Trump and Vice President Vance. The language instead bans future presidents from trading stock.
Republicans are upping the pressure this week for a stock trading ban, especially after President Trump urged Congress to pass legislation on this issue.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced a discharge petition to compel a vote on the Roy and Magaziner bill. However, the leadership ultimately chose to advance Steil’s bill, named the Stop Insider Trading Act, through the committee.
Trump has urged members of Congress to pass Steil’s legislation “without delay.”
Meanwhile, one of the House’s most successful stock traders – retiring former Speaker Nancy Pelosi – recently claimed she hasn’t been serving in Congress for the money, even though her net worth has increased by a staggering amount during her decades on Capitol Hill.
During a forum at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, Pelosi noted that she was the highest-paid member of Congress while serving as Speaker of the House.
Despite asserting that she was not motivated by financial gain in her political career, her wealth has increased by at least 2,292% over her 37 years in Congress.
As of early 2026, Pelosi’s net worth is estimated to be $270 million, according to Quiver Quantitative.
In 2024, her stock portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by nearly 200%, leading to calls for reforms on stock trading rules for lawmakers. This performance also raised concerns regarding potential illegal insider trading on her part.
According to the 2024 Congress Trading Report by the financial data platform Unusual Whales, Nancy Pelosi’s investment portfolio increased by 70.9% from December 29, 2023, to December 30, 2024.
This growth significantly outperformed the S&P 500, which had a return of 24.9% during the same period. In fact, she outperformed many of the largest hedge funds in the world in 2024.
A Pentagon spokesperson said Monday that the Department of Defense is escalating a preliminary review into what it described as “serious allegations of misconduct” involving Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
The review stems from Kelly’s participation in a controversial video that reminded U.S. service members they have a duty to disobey orders they believe are “unlawful.” The Trump administration has criticized the video, arguing it risks undermining military discipline and the chain of command.
The Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel commenced the review to assess potential consequences for the retired naval captain. Currently, Kelly is subjected to “an official Command Investigation,” as stated by the spokesperson.
“The Office of the Secretary of War, in conjunction with the Department of War’s Office of the General Counsel, is escalating the preliminary review of Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), to an official Command Investigation,” the Department of War official said in a statement sent to Breitbart News.
“Retired Captain Kelly is currently under investigation for serious allegations of misconduct. Further official comments will be limited to preserve the integrity of the proceedings,” the statement added.
Kelly, a former Navy pilot, now finds himself standing alone under scrutiny as the only member of what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has aptly dubbed the “seditious six” who is currently under formal investigation. And that distinction isn’t exactly an honor.
Kelly wasn’t acting in isolation. He was joined in the now-infamous video by Democrat Reps. Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-6), Maggie Goodlander (NH-2), and Jason Crow (CO-6), along with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).
Together, they participated in a reckless stunt urging members of the U.S. military and intelligence community to defy so-called “illegal orders” — a phrase deliberately vague enough to invite chaos, insubordination, and political weaponization of the armed forces.
That kind of rhetoric isn’t courageous. It’s dangerous. When elected officials with national platforms flirt with the idea of encouraging uniformed personnel to pick and choose which orders to follow based on partisan vibes, they’re not defending democracy — they’re undermining civilian control of the military, one of the most foundational principles of the republic.
A statement from the Department of War released last month indicated that Kelly’s possible “serious” misconduct is being reviewed for disciplinary action, which could range from a court-martial to other “administrative measures.”
An “official Command Investigation” represents an escalation that examines more grave or substantiated claims, providing it with enhanced authorities, such as the capacity to obtain sworn testimony.
Naturally, Kelly remained defiant, posting on X:
“It should send a shiver down the spine of every patriotic American that the president and secretary of defense would abuse their power to come after me or anyone this way,” he whined.
SECWAR Hegseth ripped Kelly and the other seditious lawmakers ahead of the review escalation. “As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing—sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation,” he said. “The [Department of War] won’t fall for it or stand for it.”
Kelly and his ‘seditious’ associates aimed to engage in political maneuvers using the military. Now they’re discovering that this risky endeavor could lead to repercussions.