Nancy Pelosi's portfolio raked in 70% gains last year while most Americans watched their savings get hammered by inflation.
Members of Congress from both parties have been treating Capitol Hill like their personal piggy bank.
But Ron DeSantis just cut off Byron Donalds the moment he said one thing about stock trading.
DeSantis drops the hammer on Congressional insider trading
Ron DeSantis stood alongside Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna in Clearwater and called out the game Washington's been playing for decades.
Members of Congress show up to Washington, D.C. having never made a dime in the stock market.
Then suddenly they're beating Warren Buffett like it's nothing.
"You have people getting elected to Congress having never shown any investment acumen ever in their lives, and then all of a sudden, they become Warren Buffett on steroids," DeSantis said.
They're crushing the biggest hedge funds in America with trades that have "real suspicious timing."
When you buy a stock and watch it jump 400% in a month, that's supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime score.
These politicians are doing it over and over again.
"They have access to certain information, I believe, that is helping fuel that," DeSantis added.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2008555410584641803?s=20
The Governor threw his full support behind Luna's push to ban Congressional stock trading.
He wants every single member of Florida's 28-person Congressional delegation to vote yes when it hits the floor.
And DeSantis made it personal.
He stopped trading stocks the day he got elected to Congress in 2012.
"I'm poorer for it," he said, "But you know what? You only live once, and I'd rather do what's right, and let the chips fall where they may."
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2008555410584641803?s=20
Florida moves to expose the stock traders
DeSantis announced a state-level plan that could change everything.
He wants Florida to require every federal candidate to check a box on their qualifying forms.
The question is simple: "Do you intend to trade individual stocks while you're in Congress?"
When they run for re-election, they have to answer another question.
"Did you, in fact, trade any stocks individually while you were in Congress?"
If they said no the first time and yes the second time, voters will know they lied.
"That means they broke their word to you and honestly lied on those forms," DeSantis explained.
Florida can't ban its own Senators and Congressmen from trading because the Supreme Court blocked states from adding requirements to federal office.
But states can regulate ballot access and election procedures.
That's the loophole DeSantis plans to use.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins called it "a simple way to hold people accountable and give power back to our people."
https://twitter.com/LtGovJayCollins/status/2008592251484574096?s=20
The elephant in the room nobody wanted to mention
DeSantis didn't call out Byron Donalds by name.
He didn't have to.
Donalds is running to replace DeSantis as Governor in November.
The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint last year accusing Donalds of hiding more than 100 stock trades worth up to $1.6 million.
Donalds and his wife made these trades in 2022 and 2023.
He never filed the required Periodic Transaction Reports within 45 days like the law demands.
Some of those companies donated to his campaign.
Others lobbied on bills he co-sponsored.
JP Morgan's PAC gave Donalds $3,000, and he bought JP Morgan stock.
The company lobbied him on five different bills.
Elevance Health contributed $2,500 to his campaign, and Donalds traded in that stock too.
The watchdog group said Donalds only disclosed these trades when he filed his annual reports more than a year late.
DeSantis made a point of saying this corruption problem hits both sides.
"I know Republicans always talk about Pelosi, and I do too a lot," DeSantis said, "But let's just understand this is a bipartisan ailment."
"I think it's important that as a Republican, you're willing to stand up and say, 'You know what, we need to clean both houses up.'"
But that Warren Buffett line landed different when you know Donalds is in the race.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2008640142949618030?s=20
"Having never shown any investment acumen ever in their life."
That's a direct shot.
DeSantis hasn't endorsed anyone for Governor yet.
His ally, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, keeps getting mentioned as a potential candidate.
Collins was standing right there when DeSantis dropped the hammer on stock traders.
The timing raises questions about whether DeSantis is clearing the field for someone else.
Pelosi's portfolio proves the system is rigged
Nancy Pelosi became the poster child for Congressional corruption after her portfolio jumped 70.9% in 2024.
That's triple what the S&P 500 returned.
She doubled Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which saw a 27.1% gain.
Her 2024 performance crushed her 65.5% gain from 2023.
Right before the FTC went after Microsoft with an antitrust investigation, the Pelosis unloaded 5,000 shares for $2.2 million.
They dumped 2,000 Visa shares worth $525,000 just ahead of the DOJ hitting the company with a monopoly lawsuit.
Their NVIDIA trade was the real money maker.
The Pelosis grabbed call options on 50,000 NVIDIA shares at $12 a pop back in late 2023.
That bet paid off big.
https://twitter.com/LivemusicCJ/status/2008555840002027788?s=20
Those options were sitting at more than $7.2 million by the time 2024 wrapped up.
Retail investors have been tracking Pelosi's trades for years because she beats the market so consistently.
DeSantis and Luna both pointed to Pelosi as the most obvious example.
But they made sure everyone knew this goes way beyond one California Democrat.
Luna said members from both parties are pulling 600% returns while the S&P limps along.
"How could you ever expect members of Congress to truly work for the American people if this is indeed what they're doing?" Luna asked.
Luna's discharge petition gains steam
Anna Paulina Luna filed a discharge petition in December to force a floor vote.
If she gets 218 signatures, the bill bypasses Speaker Mike Johnson and goes straight to a vote.
Luna already has 74 signatures from both parties.
Florida Democrats Maxwell Frost, Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto, and Frederica Wilson signed on.
So did Republicans Cory Mills and Greg Steube from Florida.
"It is the most bipartisan bill currently in Congress," Luna said.
"We have people that you would never expect, probably people that you don't politically align with, that are actually supporting these efforts because they know it's bad and it needs to end."
Luna told DeSantis she met with Johnson and got a commitment.
The bill is coming to the floor this quarter.
"We are going to be putting something on the floor coming up this quarter that will permanently stop insider trading," Luna said.
Johnson previously pushed back on discharge petitions after they forced votes on the Jeffrey Epstein documents.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2008553792900374826?s=20
But 86% of Americans support banning Congressional stock trading.
That kind of public pressure is hard to ignore in an election year.
President Trump already said he'd sign a stock trading ban if Congress sends it to his desk.
"Well, I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it," Trump told Time Magazine.
"If they send that to me, I would do it."
The Reporter asked if he'd sign it.
Trump responded: "Absolutely."
DeSantis is positioning himself as the guy who'll force accountability even if Washington won't act.
His Florida disclosure plan gives voters the tools to hold their representatives accountable.
It puts every candidate on record about their intentions.
And it makes sure voters know if they broke their word.
The 2026 Florida Governor's race just got a lot more interesting.
Byron Donalds has to answer questions about $1.6 million in hidden stock trades.
And DeSantis made sure everyone knows exactly where he stands on politicians getting rich in office.
"Don't tell me this stuff can't be done," DeSantis said about government reform.
"It can be done."
Sources:
- Michelle Vecerina, "DeSantis backs Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's federal stock ban, proposes Florida disclosure rules," Florida News, January 6, 2026.
- Jacob Ogles, "Ron DeSantis backs Anna Paulina Luna's trading ban, requirements for Florida candidates to disclose stock intentions," Florida Politics, January 6, 2026.
- Michael Costeines, "DeSantis Appears to Indirectly Criticize Byron Donalds Over Congressional Stock Trading," Herald Tribune, January 6, 2026.
- Mitch Perry, "DeSantis announces support for Rep. Luna's bill banning congressional stock trading," Florida Phoenix, January 6, 2026.
- Campaign Legal Center, "Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida Fails to Disclose up to $1.6 Million in Stock Trades," September 6, 2024.
- Nancy Pelosi's Portfolio Surges Again—Raking In Up to $42.5M," All Chronology, June 21, 2025.
