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WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday after the Republican’s proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress 鈥� and the president and vice president 鈥� won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote.

It鈥檚 the second time in as many days that Trump laid into senators in his own party as the president tries, sometimes without success, to publicly pressure them to fall in line. A day earlier Trump tore into veteran GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa over an obscure Senate procedure regarding nominations.

Trump called Hawley a 鈥渟econd rate Senator.鈥�

GOP senators had been working with the White House on the stock trade bill, and proposed a carve-out to shield the president from the ban, but it failed. But Trump complained that Hawley joined with Democrats to block another amendment that would have investigated the stock trades of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita.

鈥淲hy would one 鈥楻epublican,鈥� Senator Josh Hawley from the Great State of Missouri, join with all of the Democrats, to block a Review,鈥� Trump said.

Hawley did not immediately respond to Trump鈥檚 post.

But Hawley’s legislation with the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, sailed out of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on a bipartisan vote over the objections of the other Republicans, who have majority control.

鈥淲e have an opportunity here today to do something that the public has wanted to do for decades,鈥� Hawley told the panel. 鈥淎nd that is to ban members of Congress from profiting on information that frankly only members of Congress have on the buying and selling of stock.鈥�

Stock trading by members of Congress has long been an issue that the parties have tried to tackle, especially as some elected officials have become wealthy while in elected office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, it was disclosed that lawmakers were trading as information about the health crisis as it became known. Insider trading laws don’t always apply to the types of information lawmakers receive.

In a joint statement, Hawley and Peters said the legislation, called the Honest Act, builds on an earlier bill and would ban members of Congress, the president, vice president and their spouses from holding, buying or selling stock.

If the bill were to become law, it would immediately prohibit elected officials, including the president, from buying stocks and would ban them from selling stocks for 90 days after enactment. It also requires the elected officials to divest from all covered investments, starting at the beginning of their next term in office.

鈥淲e are one step closer to getting this bill passed into law and finally barring bad actors from taking advantage of their positions for their own financial gain,鈥� Peters said in a statement.

But during the committee hearing, tensions flared as Republicans sought other approaches.

GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida proposed one amendment that would exempt the president, the vice president, their spouses and dependent children, from the legislation, and another that would have required a report on Pelosi’s trades. Both were defeated, with Hawley joining the Democrats.

One Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said the overall bill is 鈥渓egislative demagoguery.鈥�

鈥淲e do have insider trading laws. We have financial disclosure. Trust me, we have financial disclosure,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 see the necessity of this.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 post criticizing Hawley comes after a similar blowback directed Tuesday night at Grassley.

In that post, Trump pressured Grassley to do away with the Senate’s longtime 鈥渂lue slip鈥� custom that often forces bipartisan support on presidential nominations of federal judges. The practice requires both senators in a state to agree to push a nominee forward for a vote. Trump told Grassley to do away with the practice.

鈥淪enator Grassley must step up,鈥� Trump said, while claiming that he helped the senator, who was first elected in 1980, to win reelection.

Grassley earlier Wednesday said he was 鈥渙ffended鈥� by what the president said.

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