Trump blasts Republican Sen. Hawley over stock trade ban: 'pawn'
Several Republicans claimed Hawley was attacking them for their wealth.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley engaged in a fiery debate with members of his own party before joining Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday to advance a bill that would ban members of Congress or their spouses from trading or holding individual stocks. Later, President Donald Trump blasted Hawley for the move, calling him a "pawn."
The bill -- the HONEST Act, which stands for the Halting Ownership of Non-Ethical Securities and Trusts -- was recently modified so that the ban on insider trading includes the president and vice president. That provision wouldn't go into effect until after Trump and Vice President JD Vance leave office, however.
Hawley voted with Democrats to pass the bill through committee by a vote of 8-7. It's now up to Senate Majority Leader John Thune to decide whether to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
Hawley led the charge to advance this legislation, but was met with push back from members of his own party who said some of the bill's provisions would disincentivize business owners from running for office. Several Republicans also claimed Hawley was attacking them for their wealth.
Hawley said when he was elected, he sold his trusts and assets in an effort to "practice what I preach."
"I don't have individual stocks. I don't trade in stock. I'm not a billionaire -- unlike others on this committee, and what I think is the American people are sending us a clear message," Hawley said.
Later, Republican Sen. Rick Scott, one of the chamber's wealthiest members, went back at Hawley for those comments.
"I don't know how many people in the audience, how many of you don't want to make money. Anybody want to be poor?" said Scott, who is a longtime businessman and founder of a large healthcare company. "I don't."
"So this idea that we are going to attack people because they make money is wrong. Is absolutely wrong. We should cherish all of our different backgrounds. Every one of us has a different background," Scott added.
Many Democrats said they are united behind the bill, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying they are "for a stock trading ban."
Hawley -- a Republican firebrand -- was in a rare position of receiving Democratic support with Sen. Richard Blumenthal saying, "thanks to Sen. Hawley for campaigning this cause."
Hawley claimed in his statement that he wanted to "find out where members stand" on the issue.
"Members of Congress should be focused on delivering results for their constituents, not returns on investments. It's time to find out where members stand," he said. "It's time we restore trust in Congress and ban all members from trading and holding stocks."
A number of Republican senators have said in recent days that they were supportive of Hawley's efforts to push the stock trading ban.
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall said on Tuesday, before the vote, that he "very much" supported a ban on stock trading.
"Certainly, I think as a member of Congress, we do sometimes have some inside information that we may know something before the stock markets move … it's not fair to the rest of the Americans. I do think that it's been abused up here," Marshall said.
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno said Tuesday he was also in favor of the efforts, saying "it's great."
On his social media site, Trump called Hawley a "pawn" and a "second-tier Senator," adding that the GOP lawmaker is "playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats" over the senator's support for the bill.
Hawley said he had not spoken to Trump since the president's post on Truth Social bashing the bill, but said he hopes to get the legislation to a place that Trump supports it.
"I mean, I want to get him to a place where he supports this, because if he doesn't, it's just not going to go anywhere," Hawley said. "If he just says I'm going to veto this, than that'll be it. So I don't want that."
Earlier in the day, asked about the HONEST Act during a bill signing Wednesday, Trump said he didn't know much about it.
"I don't know about it, but I like it conceptually," Trump said.
ABC News' Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
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