Latest news with #RobertBresnahan
Newsweek
04-07-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Republican Unloads Medicaid-Related Stock Before Voting For Trump Tax Bill
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Republican Congressman sold a Medicaid-related stock before voting for President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending package, which affects Medicaid. In May, Pennsylvania Representative Robert Bresnahan sold stocks in Centene Corporation, a healthcare company that works as an intermediary for government and private healthcare programs, while debates about the tax package, called the "One Big, Beautiful Bill," continued. The trade has recently been made publicly available. Newsweek contacted representatives for Bresnahan by email outside of business hours to comment on this story. Why It Matters The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" 218 votes to 214 after months of internal GOP divisions and last-minute negotiations. UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 15: Rep.-elect Robert Bresnahan, R-Pa., poses for a photo on the House steps after freshman members of Congress posed for their class photo on the House steps of the Capitol on... UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 15: Rep.-elect Robert Bresnahan, R-Pa., poses for a photo on the House steps after freshman members of Congress posed for their class photo on the House steps of the Capitol on Friday, November 15, 2024. More Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images The legislation extends Trump's 2017 tax cuts, eliminates taxes on tips and overtime, and boosts funding for immigration enforcement and defense. The bill will also reduce Department of Health and Human Services budget by $880 billion over 10 years, which would include cuts to Medicaid alongside other measures such as implementing work requirements. The CBO estimates that the bill would result in 11.8 million people losing health insurance by 2034, with the majority of those people losing coverage from Medicaid. Meanwhile, members of Congress are allowed to buy and sell stocks, but the practice has attracted bipartisan criticism because of concerns it may facilitate insider trading, if lawmakers are privy to information about assets that could move markets. There are also concerns politicians with stock holdings can influence the assets they hold to inflate their share value. What To Know According to his financial disclosures, Bresnahan purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 in Centene Corporation on April 8. On May 15, he sold those stocks. This came a week before the legislation initially passed in the House. In July, it was reported that shares in the company fell almost 40 percent after the insurer predicted its 2025 revenues would be hit. The disclosures were first reported by data platform Quiver Quantitative, which claimed Bresnahan does not manage his own stock portfolio and plans to set up a blind trust. What People Are Saying Speaking to Newsweek, Veljko Fotak, a finance professor at the University at Buffalo in New York, said the trade "definitely is not appropriate." "It does suggest he thought the value of the shares would tank. His position allowed him to be a better judge of that probability than you or I. He did not have clear foresight—but he did have an unfair advantage, compared to other traders. "I will also say – the moral optics are made worse by the nature of the event. Profiting from inside information regarding the likelihood of legislation passing is ugly enough—when that inside information is about millions of individuals losing access to Medicare, the optics are somehow even worse.... This is Nero selling lumber while Rome is burning." On X, New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury wrote: "This Congressman literally dumped stock in a Medicaid provider company right before this bill came to the Floor. Don't be fooled—these guys know exactly what they're doing." Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, wrote: "Protecting his stock portfolio while ripping away health care from 17 million Americans This is Washington at its worst. We need to ban Congressional stock trading."
Int'l Business Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
GOP Lawmaker Caught 'Selling' Stock in Healthcare Group That Accepts Medicaid as 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Passes House, Trade Insider Says
Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R-PA) reportedly dumped stock shares in a major healthcare provider for Medicaid recipients — stock that has now dropped nearly 44% as cuts to Medicaid in Republican's "Big, Beautiful Bill" are finalized by Congress. According to Quiver Quantitative, which tracks stock trading among insiders, including Congress, Bresnahan sold his shares in Centene Corporation on May 15, days before the House initially advanced President Donald Trump's so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill," which includes sweeping tax cuts and spending increases. Critics warn the legislation could strain Medicaid funding and other social safety net programs. Centene ($CNC) stock has since cratered, falling over 43% since Bresnahan's trade, while the broader S&P 500 (SPY) rose about 5% in the same period. The "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed the Senate last week and returned to the House after amendments were made. The massive tax and spending bill passed the House once again Thursday and now heads to Trump's desk. Bresnahan insists he does not personally manage his investments and says his financial advisor made the trade. He has pledged to place his assets into a blind trust but, according to Quiver Quantitative, has yet to do so. In early May, Bresnahan introduced a bill to ban congressional stock trading. He campaigned on restoring trust in government, but has come under scrutiny after disclosures revealed he reportedly made over $4 million in trades during his first months in office. Originally published on Latin Times
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republican Votes for Budget After Dumping Medicaid-Related Stock
GOP Representative Robert Bresnahan voted for Trump's budget on Thursday, conveniently after he dumped his shares of stock in a Medicaid provider. The Pennsylvania representative sold his Centene stock in May, just one week before he voted 'yes' on an early House version of the budget bill that crippled the health care system. By Thursday, when he voted for the final version of the bill once again, Centene stock had plummeted by 43 percent. The Pennsylvania representative had a vested interest in seeing health care get slashed. He knew that ripping Medicaid and hospital funding from millions of Americans would help him make a quick buck before his stocks tanked in value. This is yet another classic example of congressional insider trading, a rampant issue on Capitol Hill. Representatives and senators on both sides of the aisle use the specific knowledge they have, due to their positions as legislators, to impact stock prices and make off with as much cash as possible in the process. 'Protecting his stock portfolio while ripping away health care from 17 million Americans. This is Washington at its worst,' Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X. 'We need to ban Congressional stock trading.' 'Wow. So he votes to gut Medicaid and throw 17 million people off of their healthcare and then dumps his Medicaid related stock to cover his own ass?' Representative Maxwell Frost echoed. 'That's just evil and cruel.'
E&E News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
House panel OKs water aid, river commissions bills
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced two bills Wednesday that would scrutinize regional conservation commissions and an EPA water assistance program. The 'Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions Review Act,' H.R. 3428, from Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R-Pa.), and the 'Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act,' H.R. 3427, from Rep. David Taylor (R-Ohio), both progressed out of committee with bipartisan support. The commissions review bill would direct the Government Accountability Office to review the activities, funding and transparency of the Delaware River Basin Commission, Susquehanna River Basin Commission and Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. Advertisement All three were set up by Congress decades ago to better manage those rivers and their tributaries, which millions depend on for their drinking water.
E&E News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Committee sets vote on conservation, water bills
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will vote on legislation Wednesday that would scrutinize several regional conservation commissions and an EPA water assistance program. The committee will mark up the 'Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions Review Act,' H.R. 3428 from Rep. Robert Bresnahan (R-Pa.), and the 'Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act,' H.R. 3427 from Rep. David Taylor (R-Ohio). Bresnahan's bill would direct the Government Accountability Office to review activities, funding and 'ethics policies and practices' at the Delaware River Basin Commission, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. Advertisement Taylor's bill would direct GAO to review EPA processes for identifying and partnering with technical assistance experts to address local water challenges.
