Skip to main content

Politicians make promises on their stump — we watch and hold them accountable.

Help keep the record honest →Create an account
Fully KeptGovernment Ethics / Congressional Stock Trading

Fetterman committed to backing legislation (the ETHICS Act) to ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading stocks.

Sources (click to view full provenance)

Propose an edit to this promise's details

Suggest a sourced correction to the promise text, topic, scope, significance, or dates. Changing the promise text requires a source. Your suggestion is reviewed before it changes the record.

Sign in and complete the Contributor Agreement to propose an edit.

Assessments

evidence-backed verdicts

These are sourced verdicts from fact-checkers or community evidence reviews — not opinions.

Fully KeptFact-checker reviewConfidence: 90%

Verified. The promise was to BACK the ETHICS Act banning members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning/trading stocks. Fetterman's own official Senate press release (April 18, 2023 — the promise date) confirms he was an original cosponsor and advocated at the introducing presser, stating verbatim "Lawmakers should not be able to profit off the same companies that they are regulating." Merkley's press release confirms the exact bill scope (prohibits members, their spouses and dependent children from owning or trading securities/commodities/futures) and lists John Fetterman (D-PA) explicitly among the cosponsors. This is correctly rated FULL rather than CHAMPIONED: Merkley and Brown led 21 senators, and Krishnamoorthi/Cloud led the House companion — Fetterman was one cosponsor, not the author/lead, so there is no evidence of leadership that would justify CHAMPIONED. The promise (to support/back the legislation) was fully met. The Penn Capital-Star secondary source returned a 403 to direct fetch (site bot-blocking), but its existence, exact headline, and content were independently confirmed via web search at the cited URL, corroborating the two PRIMARY sources. Both cited quotes verify verbatim; the outcome does not overstate the evidence.

Your opinion on this assessment(clearly labeled opinion)

Sign in to vote.

Discussion

community opinions

Comments are user opinions — not verdicts. They do not affect the official assessment.

Sign in to join the discussion.

Propose a correction

community accountability

See an error in the promise text, status, significance, or missing source? Submit a sourced correction — a reviewer will evaluate and apply it if accurate. Your submission must cite evidence; unsourced changes are not accepted.

Sign in or create an account to propose a correction.

Debate

sourced community arguments

These are sourced community arguments — not StumpWatch assessments. Each cites a source and is community-contributed; it does not change the official status or rating above.

No arguments yet

Be the first to weigh in. Every argument cites a source and is reviewed before it publishes. Create an account to add one and help keep this promise honest.

Add a sourced argument

Cite a source for your point. Submissions are held for reviewer approval before they appear.

Sign in or create an account to add an argument.

StumpWatch is live, and the record is still growing. Many promises and positions aren’t tracked yet, and some features are still in beta. Add a sourced promise and help keep the record honest.

Help keep the record honest →