Freshman U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, who represents Wisconsin's 8th District, has been busy off the House floor too. His March periodic transaction filing shows roughly 25 stock moves and about $1.3 million in trading activity in early February. The mix of purchases, partial sales and a six-figure buy of U.S. Treasury bills is once again fueling debate over whether members of Congress should be trading individual stocks while they write the laws.
According to The Badger Project, Wied's February activity included stock purchases totaling between about $760,000 and $1.6 million, along with sales ranging from roughly $600,000 to $1.5 million. His most recent annual disclosure puts his assets somewhere between about $6 million and $13 million. The outlet's review found that the periodic transaction report covers trades dated Feb. 3 through Feb. 19 and stretches over five pages.
What's in the official filing
The periodic transaction report filed with the Clerk of the House lists the date of each trade, the ticker symbol and the value range. The document shows purchases in Visa, Micron and Charles Schwab, as well as a Feb. 13 entry for U.S. Treasury bills valued between $500,001 and $1,000,000. In all, it confirms 25 separate transactions and notes that several of the reported buys are joint holdings or partial sales.
Ethics watchdogs weigh in
Kedric Payne, who leads the ethics program at the Campaign Legal Center, told The Badger Project that "the problem is getting worse" and that heavy trading by lawmakers increases the odds that their private portfolios will intersect with their public duties. Wied's staff told the outlet that an independent financial advisor solely manages the congressman's trades and that he follows all ethics laws and disclosure requirements.
Congress is debating new limits
On Capitol Hill, members in both parties are pushing rival proposals that would clamp down on congressional stock trading, including the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act and the Stop Insider Trading Act. Both measures are listed on Congress.gov. For now, the STOCK Act is still the rulebook, requiring lawmakers to disclose trades within roughly 30 to 45 days and imposing only a modest penalty for late filing, as summarized in a recent congressional review. Critics say that setup lacks serious enforcement power.
Wied is already running for another term, and these latest disclosures land as his campaign heads into a competitive stretch, according to WBAY. For voters and government watchdogs, the filings serve as one more reminder that Congress is still trying to figure out where to draw the line between lawmakers' private investments and their public responsibilities.
