NOTUS on the net worth and individual stock trading practices of Vermont's congressional delegation

Skip to content Rep. Becca Balint and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch. (AP photos) _This story by Torrie Herrington and Taylor Giorno_ _was first published_ _in NOTUS on May 8, 2026._ Vermont is home to several rare species. The Canada lynx. The American marten. And now, wealthy federal lawmakers who don’t trade individual stocks. Sens. Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders, along with Rep. Becca Balint, did not report owning any individual stocks on their most recent personal financial disclosures to Congress. Despite not trading stocks, the Vermont delegation is significantly wealthier than the average Vermonter. Welch and Balint both have median net worths of over $1 million, and Sanders’ is on the cusp. Welch, a Democrat, has a median net worth of more than $12.8 million, according to his latest financial disclosure, which covers 2025. The surge in his net worth from nearly $9.1 million in 2024 is driven by an increase in the value of an existing money market account and several mutual and exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. Welch’s largest asset is that money market account, which is worth between $1 million and $5 million, according to his latest disclosure. On his 2024 disclosure, Welch valued the account between $500,001 and $1 million. Welch and his wife, Margaret Cheney, also have dozens of mutual funds and ETFs that contribute to his net worth. Welch once traded individual stocks. But in 2021, Business Insider revealed the then-congressman failed to properly disclose that his wife sold $6,238 worth of ExxonMobil stock around the time Welch was grilling the oil company’s CEO at a House committee oversight hearing. Welch sold off his individual stocks after the report and pledged that he — and his wife — had decided to no longer trade individual stocks. Welch told VTDigger in 2020 that he was giving up stock trading: “The clearest way to avoid even the appearance of a conflict is to simply stop making purchases,” even through an adviser. While he backtracked on that pledge a few months later, neither he nor his wife has disclosed owning or trading individual stocks since the ExxonMobil incident, according to a NOTUS analysis of his financial disclosures. The Wealth of Vermont’s Congressional Delegation The Wealth of Vermont’s Congressional Delegation The median net worth of each member of the Vermont delegation. See an expanded version of the chart. | Lawmaker | Welch, Peter | | Assets (min/max) | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 5513100 to 13164000.<br>$5.5M$13.2M | | Spacer column | | | Liabilities (min/max) | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 100001 to 250000.<br>$100K$250K | | Spacer column | | | Net Worth (median) | $9.16M<br>$9.16M<br>$9.16M | | | | Lawmaker | Balint, Becca | | Assets (min/max) | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 679087 to 2571000.<br>$679.1K$2.6M | | Spacer column | | | Liabilities (min/max) | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 0 to 0.<br>$0$0 | | Spacer column | | | Net Worth (median) | $1.63M<br>$1.63M<br>$1.63M | | | | Lawmaker | Sanders, Bernard | | Assets (min/max) | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 613030 to 1695000.<br>$613K$1.7M | | Spacer column | | | Liabilities (min/max) | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 100001 to 250000.<br>$100K$250K | | Spacer column | | | Net Worth (median) | $979.01K<br>$979.01K<br>$979.01K | | Lawmaker | Assets (min/max) | Spacer column | Liabilities (min/max) | Spacer column | Net Worth (median) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Welch, Peter | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 5513100 to 13164000.<br>$5.5M$13.2M | | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 100001 to 250000.<br>$100K$250K | | $9.16M<br>$9.16M<br>$9.16M | | Balint, Becca | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 679087 to 2571000.<br>$679.1K$2.6M | | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 0 to 0.<br>$0$0 | | $1.63M<br>$1.63M<br>$1.63M | | Sanders, Bernard | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 613030 to 1695000.<br>$613K$1.7M | | Small line chart with 2 values, ranging from 100001 to 250000.<br>$100K$250K | | $979.01K<br>$979.01K<br>$979.01K | Table with 6 columns and 3 rows. Sorted descending by column "Net Worth (median)" (column headers with buttons are sortable) Degree of wealth meter $0$9.16M NOTUS calculated the median net worth of each lawmaker by first finding each member’s minimum net worth — the sum of the minimum value of all assets minus the sum of the maximum value of all their liabilities — and their maximum net worth — maximum asset value minus minimum liabilities. NOTUS then calculated the median between the minimum and maximum net worths. Read more about NOTUS’ methodology. Table:NOTUS TeamSource:Financial disclosure reports / House and SenateCreated with Datawrapper Balint’s median net worth is more than $1.6 million, according to her 2024 financial report, which shows Balint has several joint right of survivorship accounts with her wife, Elizabeth Wohl. They also own several individual retirement accounts, and Balint includes many D.C. education trusts in her assets. Balint, a Democrat, said in a statement to NOTUS that she does not trade “any individual stocks because I don’t ever want Vermonters to question the integrity of my decisions or my vote.” Balint sold the few stocks she owned before taking office in January 2023. She disclosed owning stocks including Adobe, Intuit and Netflix valued at “none” in 2022. The stocks were gone when she filed her 2023 financial disclosure report, which covered her first year in office. “They appear on that report only because there was income generated from their sale. Because she did not hold these stocks at any point in 2023, they do not appear on her 2023 disclosure,” said Catherine White, a spokesperson for Balint. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist and the delegation’s longest-serving member, has a median net worth of $979,015. Sanders’ wealth has changed over the years. In 2011, the first year for which his disclosures are available online, he had a median net worth of $308,005. He once reached millionaire status, according to Politico, and in 2016, he spent nearly $600,000 on a lakefront summer home. Sanders has been a tough critic of those in the millionaire and billionaire class, despite having been a millionaire himself. Of late, Sanders’ economic messaging has shifted to focus on billionaires, and he even recently introduced legislation with Rep. Ro Khanna to tax billionaires at a higher rate. “At a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, this legislation demands that the billionaire class in America finally pay their fair share of taxes so that we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%,” Sanders said in a press release from March. “We can no longer tolerate a corrupt tax code that enables billionaires to pay a lower tax rate than the average worker.” According to Sanders’ 2024 annual financial disclosure, his spouse, Jane Sanders, owns over 20 mutual funds that contribute to his assets. They also reported owning a few joint bank accounts. The only debt they report is a mortgage valued between $100,000 and $250,000. Sanders disclosed that his wife owned IBM corporate securities stock in 2013 with a year-end value of “none” that generated capital gains income. He has not since reported owning any individual corporate stocks or securities, according to a NOTUS analysis of his personal financial disclosures. He now notes that his wife’s retirement accounts, which are broken out into underlying mutual funds, “are not individually held stocks.” Sanders made $148,750 in royalties from Penguin Random House in 2024 for his book, “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.” While lawmakers are typically prohibited from holding jobs outside of the Capitol, book writing is one loophole that numerous members of Congress, including Sanders, used to make extra money in 2024 beyond their congressional salary of $174,000, NOTUS previously reported. Sen. Bernie Sanders and his book “It‘s OK to Be Angry at Capitalism.” Jens Kalaene/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Federal lawmakers are required to disclose the value of certain assets — including but not limited to stocks, cryptocurrencies and properties that generate income — in ever-broader ranges on their financial disclosures to Congress each year. They also have to report liabilities such as credit card debt, student loans and mortgages on personal residences, which they do not have to disclose the value of as an asset. To best estimate lawmakers’ net worth, NOTUS analyzed the assets and liabilities listed on lawmakers’ annual financial disclosures and calculated the median of their minimum net worth — minimum total assets minus maximum liabilities — and maximum net worth — maximum total assets minus minimum liabilities. In addition to abstaining from stock trading themselves, Vermont’s congressional delegation wants to ban all members of Congress from trading stocks to avoid even the appearance that they may be profiting off their position, which often provides them access to information before the rest of the public. Balint has co-sponsored the Restore Trust in Congress Act, a bipartisan stock-ban bill introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy in 2025. Most notably, the bill would ban members of Congress and their immediate family members from owning or selling stocks. The bill has yet to advance out of committee to the full House, unlike the Stop Insider Trading Act — a Republican leadership-backed stock-ban bill with fewer restrictions — that awaits a vote before the full House. “No one should be getting rich because of their position in public office, which is why I support a full ban on stock trading for lawmakers and their immediate families. It is long past due that we turn guardrails like this into law — even the possibility of profiting from insider information erodes trust in our government and our democracy,” Balint said in a statement to NOTUS. When asked about where Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, stands on a congressional stock-trade ban, his office pointed out that Sanders is a co-sponsor of the Ending Trading and Holdings In Congressional Stocks Act. The bill, introduced by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon in 2023, would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and their dependents from purchasing or selling individual stocks. Aaron White, a spokesperson for Welch, also pointed to the ETHICS Act. “Senator Welch is a proud original cosponsor of the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, which would ban Members, spouses, and dependents from owning or trading stocks,” White said in a statement to NOTUS. “He’ll continue to fight to improve accountability and transparency in Congress and across the government.” The ETHICS Act has not been reintroduced in the Senate in the 119th Congress, but the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed a bill “closely resembling” the legislation, according to the nonprofit Issue One. The bill, which would ban the president and vice president in addition to lawmakers and their families from owning individual stocks, has not come to the Senate floor for a vote. A House committee voted in January to advance the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would prohibit lawmakers from buying new individual stocks but not require them to divest their current holdings. They would have to give seven days’ notice before selling existing holdings. Link Copy link Toggle photo metadata visibilityToggle photo comments visibility Loading Comments... Write a Comment... Email (Required)Name (Required)Website Download image