As the curtain begins to fall on Nancy Pelosi’s storied career in Congress, the public conversation about her legacy has grown more intense and polarized than ever. On December 16, 2025, The New York Times published a critical piece suggesting that Pelosi’s decades-long run—she will retire in 2027 after 40 years—will end with an “asterisk” due to her controversial stance on congressional stock trading. While Pelosi will leave office as the most powerful woman in U.S. political history, the debate over her legacy is far from settled.
Pelosi’s tenure has been marked by both historic achievements and persistent controversies. She is the first and only woman to have served as Speaker of the House, holding the gavel from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. Her influence over legislative priorities, party discipline, and national politics is widely recognized. Yet, as her retirement nears, critics and supporters alike are weighing the costs and benefits of her leadership, particularly on issues like stock trading, impeachment, and gun control.
One of the most contentious issues shadowing Pelosi’s legacy is the matter of stock trading by members of Congress. According to The New York Times, Pelosi herself does not trade stocks personally, but her husband, Paul Pelosi, a venture capitalist, has been an active trader. Their family fortune has grown exponentially during her years in office, a fact that has drawn scrutiny from both sides of the aisle. Some critics argue that the Pelosis benefited from insider information gleaned during Nancy Pelosi’s influential political career—a charge that, whether fair or not, has stuck in the public imagination.
Pelosi’s initial resistance to bipartisan efforts to ban congressional stock trading only fueled the controversy. In 2021, when asked by Business Insider about the practice, she replied, “We are a free market economy,” suggesting that members of Congress should be allowed to participate. Sources close to Pelosi told The Times that her history of stock trading profits while in office is a stain on what is otherwise a historic legacy. The perception of conflict of interest became so widespread that an entire cottage industry of imitators sprang up, even inspiring the creation of an app called “Pelosi” to help retail traders mimic her husband’s investments.
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, didn’t mince words, telling The Times, “You can’t argue with Pelosi’s performance in Congress. In 2024, she outperformed the S&P 500 by more than double.” According to Capitol Trades data, Pelosi declared a volume of $56.9 million in stock trades over the past three years. The numbers alone were enough to keep the issue alive in the headlines.
Yet, in recent years, Pelosi has softened her stance. She now says she would support a ban on stock trading if it also applied to the Supreme Court and the judiciary. Her spokesperson told Fox News on December 16, 2025, “Speaker Pelosi owns stocks and has no knowledge or involvement in any transaction,” adding that she supports a ban on congressional stock trading if brought to a vote. Bipartisan legislation, spearheaded by Representatives Seth Moulton of Rhode Island and Chip Roy of Texas, is currently gaining traction. The bill would prohibit members of Congress and their families from owning or trading individual stocks, commodities, futures, and similar assets—an effort that seems likely to pass and be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Pelosi’s legacy is also closely tied to her role in the impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump. On December 16, 2025, Daily Caller editorial director Vince Coglianese accused Pelosi of being disingenuous about Democrats’ intentions regarding impeachment. On USA Today’s “The Excerpt,” Pelosi said Democrats should only focus on impeaching Trump if he commits impeachable acts during a potential second term, cautioning that impeachment should not be a default agenda item if Democrats regain the House in 2026. “That’s not an incidental thing you say—‘We’re going to do that.’ No, there has to be cause. There has to be reason,” Pelosi stated on December 15, 2025.
Coglianese, however, argued on his show “VINCE” that Pelosi was downplaying Democrats’ true intentions, suggesting they were waiting until after the midterms to act more aggressively. He noted that Democrats were upset with Representative Shri Thanedar for pushing impeachment efforts too early in May 2025, and that Democratic leaders sought to tamp down such moves to avoid appearing “crazy” to voters before the elections. “She’s trying to downplay the left’s desire for impeachment,” Coglianese said. “Of course they do.”
Despite Pelosi’s public caution, House Democrats did impeach Trump twice during her speakership in his first term, even though she initially expressed reluctance. More recently, on December 11, 2025, Representative Al Green forced a vote on a resolution to impeach Trump, but it was overwhelmingly tabled, with 47 Democrats voting “present.” House Democratic leaders distanced themselves from Green’s efforts, emphasizing the need for a rigorous investigative process—a sentiment echoed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who explained his “present” vote by citing the need for a “serious process.”
As Pelosi reflects on her career, she has not shied away from sharing her regrets. On December 15, 2025, she identified her biggest disappointment as her inability to defeat the gun industry. “My disappointment, I’ll always have it, I’ll never give up on it, is guns. A four letter word: Guns. Guns,” Pelosi said, according to BizPac Review. She lamented that, despite four decades in public service, she could not destroy the gun industry, which she described as wielding “endless big money” to protect its interests at the expense of American lives. “The politicians should think that their political survival is more important than the survival of children and families in our country,” Pelosi said. She also highlighted the global and border-related dimensions of gun violence, arguing that the industry cares only about profits and power.
Reactions to her remarks were swift and divided. Some critics on X (formerly Twitter) questioned whether Pelosi’s own portfolio included weapons manufacturers and challenged her security detail to give up their firearms. Others argued that her stance on gun rights was out of touch with constitutional principles. Supporters, meanwhile, praised her for speaking out against the influence of money and power in the gun industry, even as she prepares to leave public office.
Pelosi’s career has been marked by historic firsts, fierce battles, and enduring controversies. On May 3, 2024, President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a White House ceremony, recognizing her contributions to American political life. As she prepares to retire, the debates over her legacy—on stock trading, impeachment, and gun control—are unlikely to fade soon. Her impact on American politics, for better or worse, will be studied and argued over for years to come.
