Several Democrats are pressing the White House to disclose financial transactions made by Trump administration officials before President Trump abruptly announced a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs.
In a letter addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the Democrats, led by Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Rep. Mike Levin (Calif.), said “newly identified data raises concerns about potential violations of federal ethics and insider trading laws” by those close to Trump with access to information not available to the public.
“We are deeply concerned about reporting of call volume spikes minutes before the President’s public announcement of his change in tariff policies,” they wrote. “We therefore urgently request a full accounting of the periodic transaction reports for all White House and executive branch employees since the start of the Administration.”
Democrats have raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest of White House officials who may have made financial transactions with insider knowledge that Trump would implement the 90-day pause on his steep tariffs.
Trump has dismissed the notion that an administration official would share nonpublic information about his tariff agenda with Wall Street executives after it was reported that officials gave such a heads up about progress on a deal with India.
Senior government officials, including the president, are required to file periodic transaction reports so the public can be informed of their financial transactions, in addition to their annual financial disclosures.
The periodic transaction reports are required to be filed within 30 days of receiving notification of certain transactions, but no later than 45 days after the transaction. Agencies then must submit reports to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).
“We are concerned that no periodic transaction reports have been posted on the OGE database for White House officials’ individual disclosures at any point since President Trump took office on January 20, 2025,” the Democrats wrote. “There is reason to doubt that not a single senior White House official or employee has made any financial transactions triggering a periodic transaction report since the start of the Administration.”
The Democrats noted that senior White House officials have influence over policy decisions that can move financial markets and it’s “critical” they adhere to ethics surrounding conflicts of interest and disclosures.
“Therefore, we ask that you and appropriate White House officials urgently certify any periodic transaction reports filed by White House employees and expeditiously transmit those to OGE,” the lawmakers wrote.
The Democrats asked Wiles and the White House to provide a detailed plan for how it intends to handle the situation with employees by May 9.
“By failing to take these steps, the Administration would be withholding critical information from the American people regarding potential violations of federal ethics and insider trading laws,” they concluded.
In addition to Schiff and Levin, the letter was signed by 23 other Democratic lawmakers.