Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is urging Democrats to elevate a sweeping ban on stock trading across all three branches of government to the top of their legislative agenda.
Speaking on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday, Emanuel pressed his party to convert ongoing investigations into concrete reforms, insisting that lawmakers must enact a far-reaching ethics bill in 2027 that would bar officials in all three branches from buying and selling individual stocks. According to Fox News, he called on Democrats to move beyond rhetoric and partisan theatrics and deliver structural changes that would apply equally to legislators, judges and executive branch officials.
"Pass a comprehensive ethics bill for all three branches," Emanuel said, warning that investigations alone are "not the change alone that the American people voted for." Emanuel, who has openly floated a 2028 presidential bid, said the package should also prohibit officials from betting on prediction markets, ban stock trading, mandate blind trusts, impose term limits or a mandatory retirement age, and restrict foreign income during and after government service.
He framed the recent election as a broad rejection of conservatives, declaring, "The way I look at this election is pretty straightforward. It was a repudiation of President Trump, Project [20]25 and the Republicans. When you look at how deep and how broad this is, it's very clear. But what the Democrats do in 2027 will determine whether we have won," he said. Emanuel nonetheless conceded that investigations must have a legislative endpoint, adding, "I am for following the money. Where did all this money go? Who got these contracts? But it has to lead to ethics and lobbying reform legislation."
Democrats in the Senate have already blocked a Republican-backed attempt to rein in congressional stock trading, despite public frustration over perceived self-dealing in Washington. The Stop Insider Trading Act cleared the House in July over the objections of most House Democrats, who claimed the bills restrictions did not go far enough and balked at a photo voter ID requirement that would have strengthened election integrity.
Emanuel argued that a tougher, more expansive ethics overhaul could help Democrats retain the support of moderate Republicans who crossed party lines in the midterms, implicitly acknowledging that voters are demanding accountability from both parties. "There is time now for all of Washington to get a good house cleaning and scrubbing," Emanuel said, even as his own party has resisted GOP-led reforms that move in that direction.
Pressed about his political ambitions and a possible 2028 White House run, Emanuel predicted a crowded Democratic field and cast himself as a blunt, if unconventional, contender. "In 2028, my prediction is you're going to have a Baskin-Robbins, 31 flavors. And if I decide to do this, I'm [going to] be Rocky Road," he said, promising he would "tell you the truth, whether you [want to] hear it or not," even as his call for ethics reform highlights the deep skepticism many Americans still harbor toward Washingtons political class.
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