Congress closed the stock-trading door — now Young Kim is coming for another ‘get rich’ loophole

BS BULLETIN:

Rep. Young Kim is targeting a congressional earmark rule she says could allow lawmakers to indirectly increase their own wealth.
Her bipartisan resolution would expand conflict-of-interest certifications to immediate family members and indirect financial benefits.
Kim says taxpayers shouldn’t have to wonder whether a federal project is helping a congressional district — or a congressman’s property value.

Congress has spent years arguing about lawmakers getting rich trading stocks.

Rep. Young Kim says there’s another potential congressional money-making loophole worth closing.

The California Republican is pushing the Stop Congressional Self-Enrichment Resolution, which would tighten House rules governing lawmakers who request taxpayer-funded earmarks.

Members of Congress should be held to the highest standards when spending taxpayer dollars.

Today, I introduced the Stop Congressional Self-Enrichment Resolution to stop Members from using federal funds for personal financial gain & get Congress back to work for Americans. pic.twitter.com/sZg5n3pOqD

— Young Kim (@RepYoungKim) September 17, 2026

And Kim gave Fox News some remarkably simple examples of what she’s trying to prevent.

A member of Congress could seek federal money for a park or community center near an apartment building owned by the member or the member’s family, potentially increasing the property’s value. Or perhaps federal dollars build a road leading toward rural land owned by a lawmaker.

Another example: directing money toward a nonprofit where a member’s spouse serves on the board. Those are the kinds of indirect financial benefits Kim says current House rules don’t adequately address.

Current House ethics rules already require lawmakers requesting Community Project Funding — commonly called earmarks — to certify that they and their spouses have no financial interest in the request.

Kim’s proposal goes further.

The resolution would extend the certification to immediate family members and entities in which the lawmaker or family holds a material financial interest. More significantly, it explicitly covers indirect financial interests.

That includes a business asset that could reasonably be expected to increase in value because it is located near a federally funded project. The resolution was formally introduced Sept. 17 and referred to the House Ethics Committee.

Kim told Fox that the idea is to eliminate any question about whether lawmakers are using federal spending decisions to benefit themselves.

“When politicians are busy lining their own pockets, how can they ever understand or focus on the pocketbook issues Americans face every single day?” Kim said in announcing the measure. “The least they deserve is representation focused on making their lives better.”

The proposal has bipartisan backing.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine and Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania joined Kim on the resolution. Golden said Americans deserve confidence that earmarks are being secured for constituents rather than lawmakers, their families or businesses in which they have a financial interest. Fitzpatrick called public service a “public trust” and said there should be no ambiguity about whose financial interests lawmakers are serving.

Kim’s proposal comes amid a broader push to restrict the ways members of Congress can personally benefit financially while in office.

She has also backed legislation restricting lawmakers’ individual stock trading and ownership, requiring certain assets to be placed into blind trusts and stripping taxpayer-funded pensions from members convicted of certain crimes or expelled from Congress.

Her latest target is considerably less complicated than a congressional stock portfolio.

MY QUICK TAKE:

A road to land you own. A park next to your apartment building. Taxpayer money going somewhere that makes your family’s property more valuable. I have a question. Why do we keep discovering congressional rules that make ordinary Americans say: “Wait — they were allowed to do that?”

(Video: Fox News Digital)