Members of Congress sold off millions of dollars in shares of companies exposed to President Donald Trump’s tariffs this year, even as they publicly downplayed, praised or voted against ending the policies.
Republicans and Democrats alike have mitigated their tariff exposure by shedding the stocks of companies operating supply chains vulnerable to Trump’s policies, from semiconductor manufacturers to clothing retailers, according to an analysis of congressional financial disclosures by The Washington Sun.
Many of the lawmakers told The Sun that they do not control their own stock sales and purchases, but rather use independent outside financial advisers for any trades. Those advisers have routinely acted on behalf of their congressional clients in a way that shows the economic reality of tariffs differently from what Republicans have publicly insisted.
The trades show the extent that Trump’s ever-changing tariff regime has impacted the economy and the finances of even his defenders. The president’s policies have saturated many sectors of the U.S. economy, sparing few companies and driving prices higher for both business owners trying to make ends meet and consumers frustrated by the rising cost of living.
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In some cases, many of the stocks lawmakers replaced previous holdings with carried their own significant tariff exposure.
Rep. Tony Wied (R-Wisconsin) dropped at least between $395,000 and $950,000 in tariff-exposed stocks this year. The majority came from companies that manufacture semiconductors or related equipment, including at least $150,001 in Lam Research and $100,001 in Advanced Micro Devices stock. The transactions were made through a jointly owned account.
In January, Trump levied 25% tariffs on the semiconductor industry and is reportedly considering enforcing new semiconductor tariffs. Wied sold the affected Lam Research stocks during a nine-day period in February. Lawmakers are only required to report the value of their transactions in broad ranges.
“I think he’s doing the right thing, utilizing different tools to be able to use those tariffs, again, as leverage to do what’s best for our country, and to grow our economy and make us safer and more secure,” Wied told C-SPAN in February, weeks after selling semiconductor industry stocks.
“Rep. Wied has zero involvement in his stock trading. All of his investments are managed solely through an independent financial advisor, and he has no role in any of their decisions,” his spokesperson Aidan Strongreen said in a statement to The Sun.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) dumped at least between $47,000 and $180,000 in tariff-exposed stocks over a couple days in June, the Sun’s analysis found. Most of those transactions were made through a jointly owned account. The husband of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) sold at least between $7,000 and $105,000 of his own tariff-exposed stocks this year, including Broadcom, Intel and Apple shares.
The Republican lawmakers publicly defended the president’s tariffs, acknowledging their strain on the U.S. economy while justifying those financial pressures.
“You know, we’re going to have some short-term pain for long-term gain,” Tuberville told Fox News in April 2025, adding that the president is “gonna do whatever it takes to usher in a Golden Age for the American economy.”
Moore Capito has said tariffs are a “negotiating item for” the president that could lead to a “more fair deal” for workers, though she has acknowledged that “there is pain associated with” tariffs.
“The uncertainty of this is starting to wear on people, particularly with supply chains, but I think they’re willing to ride it out with the president,” Moore Capito told reporters in July of last year.
Moore Capito and Tuberville did not respond to requests for comment.
The Sun used the financial disclosures of some of Congress’ highest volume stock traders to identify transactions involving companies with supply chains vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs. The Sun confirmed each company’s tariff exposure using quarterly earnings reports and Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
A majority of Americans believe Trump’s tariff policies will have a mostly negative impact on the country, and the share of Republicans feeling optimistic about them has fallen to a minority, according to a Pew Research Center poll published earlier this month.
A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study released in August found that 26% of the 2025 tariff hikes pass through to the prices consumers pay.
Many lawmakers and their family members are limiting the impact of tariffs on their own stock portfolios.
Rep. Michael McCaul’s (R-Texas) wife sold between at least $1.07 million and $3.24 million in tariff-exposed stocks from January to June of this year, though he purchased a similar dollar range of such stocks. In April 2025, Linda Mays McCaul sold at least between $265,000 and $650,000 in stocks over a more than six-week period following the April 2 tariff announcement, including at least between $200,002 and $500,000 worth of shares in Kraft Heinz, which faced tariffs on a slew of imported ingredients. Mays McCaul sold at least between $100,001 and $250,000 of those Kraft Heinz shares on the same day as the announcement.
“Congressman McCaul did not purchase these stocks. Rather, his wife has assets she solely owns, and a third-party manager made the purchase without her direction,” McCaul’s attorney Elliot Berke said in a statement to The Sun.
The wife of Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Washington), who voted to eliminate tariffs on Canada, sold at least between $9,000 and $135,000 in tariff-exposed stocks on a single day in July, though she purchased a slightly lower range — $7,000 to $105,000 — in similar stocks on the same day.
“Neither Congressman Newhouse nor his wife have any involvement in the stock transactions in their portfolio,” a spokesperson for Newhouse said. “Their financial advisor handles all transactions and required reporting.”
Accounts tied to Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-New Jersey) offloaded at least between $90,000 and $475,000 of tariff-exposed stocks between January and August. Half of the sales took place during Kean’s absence from Congress earlier this year, The Sun previously reported. Kean has previously said that he has no influence over the individual investment decisions of his outside financial advisers and has backed legislation banning lawmakers from purchasing individual stocks.
Some of Congress’s most prolific stock traders have cooled their high-volume stock trading this year following press coverage of their previous transactions, according to The Sun’s review of publicly available financial disclosures. A spokesperson for Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) — who made 77 stock sales the day before “Liberation Day” and dozens more after — told The Sun last month that Johnson would stop trading individual stocks.
Freshman Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-Indiana) sold at least between $1.47 million and $3.8 million in tariff-exposed stocks between February and May 2025, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in Amazon, Costco and Walmart stock, according to a new Washington Sun analysis. The Sun previously reported that Shreve — one of Congress’s wealthiest members — made more than 140 individual stock purchases and sales totaling at least between $3.44 million and $9.45 million during a 10-day stretch in April 2025. A spokesperson for Shreve told The Sun in December he would quit individual stock trading.
A spokesperson for Shreve told The Sun the transactions are unrelated to tariffs and reflect when Shreve directed the asset manager of his charitable trust to divest from individual stocks.
“Mr. Shreve has not traded personally-held stocks as a member of Congress and has voted to ban Congressional stock trading,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pennsylvania), whose median net worth is $34 million, dumped stocks worth at least between $74,000 and $935,000 in companies vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs in late March and April 2025, The Sun found.
Bresnahan and Shreve have both said they rely on outside financial advisers to manage their wealth. However, transactions in both lawmakers’ portfolios have slowed this year, amounting to just $166,000 to $365,000 in purchases by Bresnahan of index funds, bonds and securities. Shreve sold at least between $10,000,002 and $50 million in annuities and purchased $29 million to $145 million in annuities and structured notes tied to equity indices like the S&P 500.
In July, the House passed a bill — the Stop Insider Trading Act — to ban congressional stock buying. But despite most Americans supporting a congressional stock-trade ban and the issue becoming a major campaign issue, the bill died in the Senate last month. Democrats blocked it because many considered it rife with loopholes and had been tethered to an unrelated national voter identification measure. Some lawmakers are vowing to try again during the post-election lame duck congressional session or next year with a new Congress.
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