Democratic Congressman Blames Technology Hiccup for STOCK Act Violation
Democratic Congressman Blames Technology Hiccup for STOCK Act Violation
https://www.notus.org/congress/menefee-stock-act
Publish Date: 2026-06-03 05:19:00
Source Domain: www.notus.org
Rep. Christian Menefee entered Congress this year vowing to sell off his individual stock holdings. The Texas Democrat has advocated for banning members of Congress and their family members from trading individual stocks and has co-sponsored legislation to that end.
While he’s made good on those promises, Menefee also just became the latest member of Congress to violate a federal financial transparency and insider trading law when he disclosed five stock sales weeks past a 45-day federal deadline, according to a NOTUS review of congressional financial records.
Menefee blamed a technological hiccup for the STOCK Act snafu.
“This reporting issue was not an effort to hide anything. Quite the opposite,” Menefee told NOTUS. “I disclosed the transactions, completed the reports and believed they had been submitted. As a brand-new member still learning the filing system, I mistakenly left the reports in draft status instead of hitting the final submit button. As soon as I realized what happened, I immediately filed the reports and notified the [House] Ethics Committee.”
The late disclosures include stock in Berkshire Hathaway and Pinterest together worth from $47,005 to $180,000. (Federal lawmakers are only required to disclose the values of their stock trades in broad ranges.) Menefee’s wife, Kaitlyn, receives restricted stock units on a quarterly basis as part of her compensation as a Pinterest employee, and the Menefees sell this stock within a week of the stock units vesting and being eligible for sale, the congressman explained.
The House Ethics Committee’s STOCK Act guidance states that members of Congress are “personally responsible for incomplete and inaccurate information” related to their financial disclosure reports. The standard fine for a first-time STOCK Act violation is $200.
Menefee said he contacted the House Ethics Committee on…
