Pelosi’s husband invests millions in chip firm as Congress considers billions in tech subsidies

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to reports over the weekend about her investor husband having made a stock purchase of over $1 million in a tech company weeks ahead of Congress potentially passing a bill that would give billions in subsidies to the U.S. makers of semiconductor chips.

Husband Paul Pelosi in late June bought $1 million to $5 million worth a shares in California-based NVIDIA, according to a disclosure obtained by Fox News. 

The Senate reportedly could vote as early as Tuesday on $52 billion in initial funding for domestic chip factories, to try to stop the country's reliance on China's technology.

"It certainly raises the specter that Paul Pelosi could have access to some insider legislative information," Craig Holman, a Capitol Hill lobbyist for liberal think tank Public Citizen, told the Daily Caller News Foundation about the disclosure.

Paul Pelosi already had a sizable stake in NVIDIA before his recent purchase of over 20,000 shares. NVIDIA reportedly is involved in chip technology and design but does not make them.

The Senate is slated to vote this week on its CHIPS Act and another that would provide investment tax credits to manufacturers and designers. The House passed its version in February. 

Nvidia stock was up 5% Monday, according to Yahoo Finance. 

Pelosi’s trading habits have been thrust into the spotlight after her husband beat the stock market by 5% in 2021 and 14% the year prior. 

Paul Pelosi last year made more than $5 million on an options trade executed just before the House voted on big tech antitrust legislation.

Georgia Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff in January introduced legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading while in office. Polling shows that three-in-four voters support such a ban. The legislation remains in committee. 

The speaker, a California Democrat, responded Monday to concerns about her husband's stock trades. 

"The speaker does not own any stocks," spokesman Drew Hammill told Fox Business. "As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked ‘SP’ for spouse. The speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions."

He also pointed out that at least three House proposal on the matter have been introduced and that Pelosi has asked the Committee on House Administration to review them.