Photo ID About-Face? Pappas Backs Voter ID Mandate In Stock-Trading Bill

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas has made attacking Donald Trump the centerpiece of his campaign for U.S. Senate, so it may come as a surprise that he recently voted for one of the Republican president’s top priorities:

Voter ID.

The four-term congressman voted yes on H.R. 7008, known as the Stop Insider Trading Act, which passed the House on July 22. The legislation bans new stock purchases by members of Congress and their families — effectively banning stock trading — a position Pappas has long touted.

To get the votes needed to pass the House, leadership added language from another bill requiring voters to show a photo ID when casting ballots in a federal election — a key component of the Trump-backed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act.

The merged legislation passed in a 232-198 vote, with just 13 Democrats crossing the aisle to support it. One of them was Pappas.

The merging of these two pieces of legislation will ensure the bill’s likely death in the Senate, predicted James Kardatzke, CEO of Quiver Quantitative, which tracks congressional stock trades.

“We have seen dozens of different proposals that have been announced for a stock trading ban,” Kardatzke told NHJournal. “However, almost none of them have made any significant progress beyond the initial announcement. That’s especially true when the bills are crafted in a clearly partisan manner or when there is a poison pill term added, such as in H.R. 7008.”

Until this vote, Pappas had been an adamant opponent of voter ID requirements. He has voted against the SAVE Act at least three times, which would have mandated photo ID, but he has gone even further. He also backed both H.R. 1, a 2019 bill that would have federalized state elections, and follow-up legislation, the Freedom to Vote Act, in 2023.

Both bills would have used federal power to strip states of the ability to mandate photo ID at the ballot box.

Critics of the so-called Freedom to Vote Act, such as New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, argued that it would be a “federal takeover” of New Hampshire’s election process.

In April, Pappas criticized Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte for signing HB 323, which mandates that voters present a valid, government-issued ID to receive a ballot.

The legislation would “only restrict eligible voters from casting their ballots, and it’s an obvious attempt by Republicans to prevent Granite Staters from holding them accountable at the polls in November,” Pappas said at the time.

Now he’s voting for it.

Why is Pappas backing voter ID mandates now? He declined to respond to requests for comment, and he has yet to make a statement acknowledging his pro-ID vote. (It’s recorded on the House Clerk’s website.)

“While not perfect, this legislation takes a crucial first step forward to take on those who abuse their public office for personal gain and end self-dealing in Washington,” Pappas said of the overall legislation in a news release.

Republicans say it’s just the latest example of Pappas’ lack of principle on important issues of the day, such as his “present” vote on an amendment to block military aid to Israel.

“Chris Pappas is proving to be just another double-talking politician that New Hampshire voters can’t trust,” Mike Schrimpf, spokesperson for Republican John E. Sununu’s campaign, said.

Seventy-six percent of Granite State voters support requiring a physical ID to vote, according to a survey conducted in February by the Democracy Defense Project.

Brown said it’s clear that Pappas is playing both sides of the voter ID issue, especially considering his recent opposition to the SAVE Act.

“The only reason he voted for the ID provision is because he is running for the Senate,” Brown said. “He has voted for things that he traditionally votes against solely because he’s running and knows that it is an issue that voters care about.”

It is worth noting that Pappas has taken both sides of the ongoing congressional stock-trading debate by supporting bans on stock trading while refusing to back more aggressive legislation to shut down stock ownership in Congress.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has argued that the Stop Insider Trading Act isn’t aggressive enough in preventing profiteering by members of Congress. Warren previously proposed the Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022, a companion to House legislation introduced in 2023 by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

Pappas, who has touted his opposition to members of Congress enriching themselves on insider information, has declined to back this bill. He and his husband, Vann Bentley, who works for Uber, hold between $150,000 and $350,000 in Uber stock received as part of Bentley’s compensation, according to their most recent federal disclosure.

Ethics questions are already being raised about Pappas’ position on the Transportation Committee, which regulates Uber and other ride-hailing businesses.

Warren has rejected Pappas’ approach of banning stock trading but not ownership by sitting members of Congress.

“Lawmakers can continue owning and selling stocks — so it won’t solve the problem,” Warren wrote on X. “Members of Congress should not own, buy or sell stocks.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.