Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., has seen her wealth inexplicably skyrocket since joining Congress in 2019, with her fortune growing by approximately $7 million in just five years despite her $174,000 annual salary, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis.
When the New Jersey Democrat first arrived in Washington, her reported assets totaled between $733,209 and $4,321,000.
By 2024, those figures had exploded to between $4,840,076 and $13,975,000, a massive jump.
Critics have pointed to the timing of Sherrill’s stock transactions and raised questions about conflicts of interest — something that her Democratic counterpart, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has long been accused of.
Is Sherrill a new, leveled-up Pelosi?
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sherrill made several large fund purchases that subsequently posted massive gains. These included investments of up to $250,000 each in ETFs that have since soared between 26.8% and 66.2%. The day before these purchases, she sold stock in 112 individual companies.
Sherrill’s office claimed she had moved away from trading individual stocks before receiving pandemic briefings, but financial records hint at a different story.
The New Jersey Democrat made dozens of individual stock trades throughout 2020. In December, she paid a $400 fine for failing to disclose up to $350,000 in stock sales as required by the 2012 STOCK Act.
Sherrill’s rapid wealth grab draws parallels to longstanding criticisms of Pelosi, whose huge wealth gains during her time in Congress has been criticized for decades. Pelosi’s husband Paul has a history of well-timed stock trades, including purchases of semiconductor stocks shortly before Congress approved industry subsidies.
In response to these concerns, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., recently reintroduced the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, which would force lawmakers and their spouses to either sell their individual stocks or place them in blind trusts within six months of taking office.
“Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve—not day trading at the expense of their constituents,” Hawley said in a statement announcing the legislation. “Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public.”
The bill has gained rare bipartisan support. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has endorsed the proposal, and President Donald Trump has indicated he would “absolutely” sign such a ban if it reached his desk.
“I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it,” Trump told Time Magazine.
Under Hawley’s proposal, lawmakers would still be permitted to invest in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or U.S. Treasury bonds. Those violating the rules would face penalties including forfeiture of profits, fines amounting to 10% of wrongful transactions, and loss of tax deductions for investment losses.
Despite her own trading history, Sherrill has publicly claimed she supports reform. In January, she co-sponsored the TRUST Act, which would similarly ban members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks.
While multiple bipartisan bills targeting congressional stock trading have been introduced since 2020, none have advanced despite public opinion polls showing overwhelming support.
Sherrill, who lives in a seven-bedroom mansion in Montclair, N.J. with her husband Jason Hedberg, announced her candidacy for governor of New Jersey in November and is currently competing in a six-way Democratic primary.
Incredible how that works… https://t.co/BvnXtqp7DV
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