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Two local news reports are adding additional scrutiny to Rob Bresnahan’s prolific stock trading habit, raising fresh questions and highlighting how his broken promises are front and center back home for his NEPA constituents.
After speaking directly to Bresnahan about his broken promises to ban congressional stock trading and to protect Medicaid, a Scranton Times-Tribune contributor reported that Bresnahan thinks “many of his constituents believe he’s a dishonest opportunist out to enrich himself at their eternal expense,” adding that “Bresnahan is notoriously unavailable to constituents.” They also report that Bresnahan is now walking back his pledge to place his assets into a blind trust. The contributor’s response? “The easiest solution would be to simply stop trading.”
And the Times-Leader dives into recent reporting that Bresnahan “dumped stock before voting for historic Medicaid cut.”
Read highlights from the two local news stories for yourself:
Scranton Times-Tribune: Chris Kelly Opinion: Bresnahan says ‘I don’t look at them as cuts’
By Chris Kelly | July 8, 2025
- In a remotely normal political universe, a freshman congressman from the 8th District of Pennsylvania would not be the subject of international headlines.
- We are light-years past normal, which explains why Rob Bresnahan is a household name from Scranton to South Africa. A headline from the Daily Chhattisgarh, which I swear I’m not making up: “A Cruel and Stunning New Low: Rep. Bresnahan Accused of Profiting Off Stock Sale Ahead of Major Medicaid Vote.”
- Bresnahan first drew wider scrutiny in April, when The New York Times reported that the multimillionaire MAGA Republican was among the most prolific stock traders in Congress. This was newsworthy, because Bresnahan ran on a promise to ban congressional stock trading.
- In May, he introduced legislation for such a ban, but kept on trading. One of the May transactions is news now because Bresnahan dumped Medicaid-related stock and then voted for a budget-busting bill that slashes the program and other safety nets his most vulnerable constituents rely on.
- As a candidate and a congressman, Bresnahan repeatedly vowed never to vote for any such cuts.
- Bresnahan is notoriously unavailable to constituents who cite innumerable unanswered calls to his offices and rightly ridicule his “telephone townhalls,” a cowardly substitute for the real thing.
- It helps if you have his cellphone number. I called Monday, he answered, and we had a congenial, enlightening chat covering his stock trades, his vote to cut Medicaid and SNAP benefits and why he thinks many of his constituents believe he’s a dishonest opportunist out to enrich himself at their eternal expense.
- We started with the stock trades […] He said he explored creating a “blind trust,” but the process was complicated and could have unintended consequences.
- Bresnahan said he’s “on the cusp of finding something” that will make his trades “more transparent.” The easiest solution would be to simply stop trading.
- Like too many of the 435 representatives and 100 senators who allegedly represent us, the 35-year-old multimillionaire has precious little in common with everyday Americans, particularly the poorest and sickest among us.
- Bresnahan is struggling to set up a suitable system for trading his millions in stocks. Many of his constituents are struggling to pay for basic elements of survival. The budget he voted for will make their struggle harder. He doesn’t see it that way, and from his unique perspective, it’s folly to expect otherwise.
The Times-Leader: DCCC: Bresnahan dumped stock before voting for historic Medicaid cut
By Bill O’Boyle | July 8, 2025
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Eli Cousin this week said U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. “literally traded off of his vote” for the One Big Beautiful Bill to gut Medicaid.
- “The vulnerable Pennsylvania congressman — Rob Bresnahan — has reached a new low,” Cousin said in an emailed statement. “It was revealed that the congressman recently sold stock in Centene — ‘the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the nation’ — just days before voting to gut Medicaid. The stock has now fallen more than 40% since his sale.”
- Cousin’s statement went on to say, “Even for Rob Bresnahan, dumping stock in a Medicaid provider before voting for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history marks a cruel and stunning new low. Bresnahan has fully broken the public trust by not just breaking his promises not to cut Medicaid and not to trade in Congress — but by potentially profiting from his perch. He will be a one-term Congressman.”
- The DCCC statement added: “Bresnahan has told two bald-faced lies to NEPA voters:
- He promised he would protect Medicaid, but just voted for the largest cuts in history.
- He pledged to ban congressional stock trading, but has become one of the most prolific traders in Congress.”
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