Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is telling Democrats to drop what he calls politically motivated impeachments and start listening to the American people. In his view, Congress should instead suspend the gas tax, fund rural hospitals and pass his bill to ban insider stock trading by lawmakers. The remarks follow a November 11 post in which Hawley laid out a short list of priorities for Senate Republicans over the next six weeks, before the party is expected to lose its majority after last week's midterm elections. That list also included a data center moratorium, defunding Planned Parenthood and the SAVE America Act.

The bill Hawley is promoting is the PELOSI Act, which would bar members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks, give current lawmakers 180 days to comply, and make violators hand their profits to the Treasury. He reintroduced it in 2025 after President Trump said he would sign such a ban. Last year Hawley joined Democrats in a committee vote to advance a version renamed the Honest Act, and Nancy Pelosi voiced support for the effort. The bill has yet to become law, and it is unclear whether any of Hawley's list can pass in a short lame-duck session. Democrats, for their part, have criticized Republicans over rural hospital funding, pointing to the impact of Trump's signature tax bill.