A Democratic congresswoman just joined the long list of lawmakers who've violated a federal conflict-of-interest law

• Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico recently violated a federal conflict-of-interest and transparency law.
• Legislators are required to disclose — within 45 days — stock trades made by themselves or a spouse.
• Her office said an "electronic error" prevented her from disclosing a stock sale for nearly two years.

A Democratic congresswoman just joined the long list of members of Congress who've violated a federal conflict-of-interest law after she waited nearly two years to publicly disclose a stock trade, records show.

Federal records show that Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a freshman member of Congress from New Mexico, violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, which in part requires members of Congress to disclose within 45 days stock trades they've made for themselves, spouses, or dependent children.

In January 2021, Fernandez sold between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in Golub Capital BDC, an investment company. She waited, however, until this month to actually report the trades to the US House — well past the 45-day deadline that Congress established for own members.

An aide in Fernandez's congressional office, who declined to be named on the record, explained to Insider that Fernandez made the trade as part of her retirement portfolio, which is normally managed by an independent firm. In this particular instance, the aide noted, Fernandez directed the firm to sell the stock.

"The Congresswoman directed the sale and sold the only individual stock she owned shortly after being sworn into congress because she felt it was important to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest and/or perceived conflicts of interests. The Congresswoman does not have stocks so does not make trades."

The aide said that Fernandez drafted the report of the sale before the 45-day deadline, but that an "electronic error" prevented it from being filed.

In all, 76 members of Congress have been caught violating the STOCK Act since Insider and other publications began tracking instances of violations in 2021. 

A conflicted Congress

Since Insider first published its extensive investigative "Conflicted Congress" project in late 2021, which revealed numerous financial conflicts of interest and violations of federal disclosure law, members of Congress have begun debating whether they and members of their immediate family should be allowed to trade individual stocks at all.

Fernandez's aide, in a statement, told Insider that the congresswoman "supports a ban on members of Congress owning individual stocks."

Despite bipartisan interest in such a bill, Democratic leadership, which introduced its own stock-ban bill among several other bills sponsored by rank-and-file members, punted a vote on it until after the 2022 midterm elections. Senate Democrats also paused their efforts.

Now back in session after the elections, the House has yet to vote on a stock trading ban, and it's looking increasingly unlikely that a vote will occur before the next legislative session begins.

Prior to the midterm elections, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy noted he was open to a congressional stock trading ban, however, he's been mum on the topic post-election now that it's clear the Republican Party will have control of the House next term.