Vern Buchanan (R-FL16), among the wealthiest members of Congress (~$100M+), built his fortune from auto dealerships and ~30 private LLCs before entering office in 2007, so his pre-office wealth is not scored. He is not an active individual-stock trader, so the stock_trading component is near-zero. The most substantive accountability concerns are correlation-type conflicts: as a senior Ways and Means member overseeing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, he sponsored pass-through tax relief (Main Street Fairness Act) that could have saved his own LLCs millions, purchased a multimillion-dollar yacht financed by BMO Harris on the same day he voted for the tax bill while the bank lobbied on tax reform, and historically faced an FEC straw-donor matter (Hyundai of North Jacksonville) that the FEC and House Ethics Committee ultimately closed without action against him. None of these resulted in formal findings of wrongdoing against Buchanan, so they are flagged as conflicts/correlations rather than proven self-dealing.
Public record
In Congress since
2007
Committees
Joint Committee on Taxation Ways and Means
Missed votes, 119th Congress
9.9% (67 of 674; median member 1.9%)
Campaign money, 2025–26 cycle
$930K raised · 63% from PACs & committees · $996K cash on hand FEC ↗
H.R. 7008 bans new stock purchases by members, spouses and dependents; it doesn't force sales of existing holdings. The Senate vote was on the version paired with the SAVE Act, which is why no Democrat voted yes. Full breakdown →
Disclosed stock trades
No periodic transaction reports on file since 2024. That's the norm: most members don't trade individual stocks, or hold them in blind trusts and diversified funds.
Amounts are the ranges members must report, not exact values. The STOCK Act requires a report within 45 days of a trade; "late" counts days past that deadline, measured to the filing date.
How the score breaks down
Stock self-tradinghousehold / spouse
25% weight
5
Buchanan is not an active individual-stock trader; congressional-trading trackers show essentially no personal/spouse individual-equity transactions. His wealth sits in private businesses, not a managed stock portfolio, so STOCK Act trading risk is minimal. Near-zero score reflects absence of individual-stock trading.
Buchanan was already among the five wealthiest members of Congress (over $100M) when he took office in 2007, with wealth from auto dealerships, printing franchises and ~50 businesses. Per rubric, pre-office wealth is not scored, and no sourced evidence shows net-worth growth beyond salary/market/business returns attributable to his office. Scored 0 for lack of in-office enrichment data.
Money → action alignmentcorrelation, not proof of any quid-pro-quo
20% weight
55
CORRELATION, NOT PROOF. As senior Ways and Means member/Tax Policy Subcommittee chair overseeing the 2017 TCJA, Buchanan sponsored pass-through (LLC) tax relief that could have saved his own private companies up to ~$7.5M, and bought a yacht financed by BMO Harris the same day he voted for the tax bill while that bank lobbied on tax reform. Strong overlap between his official tax-writing role, personal financial interests, and creditor/donor interests; no formal finding of quid pro quo.
No sourced evidence found of Buchanan converting campaign or leadership-PAC funds to personal use. The historic campaign-finance matter involved illegal straw donations INTO his campaign, not personal spending OUT of it. Scored 0 per the no-penalty-for-absence rule.
Buchanan's private auto-dealership network intersected with his campaign finances: the FEC alleged a dealership he co-owned (Hyundai of North Jacksonville) arranged ~$67,900 in reimbursed straw contributions to his campaign. The FEC found 'reason to believe' Buchanan knowingly received them but closed the file with no action; House Ethics ended its probe in 2016 citing insufficient evidence. Reflects business-to-office entanglement, though no staff-to-lobbyist pipeline or family lobbying contracts were documented.
Buchanan missed 506 of 12,638 roll-call votes (4.0%) from 2007-2026, modestly worse than the ~2.1% median for sitting representatives. He is a prolific fundraiser as a senior Ways and Means member, but no sourced evidence ties missed votes specifically to fundraising or paid speeches. Low-moderate score for above-median absences without documented fundraising linkage.
Sources behind this score: 2 data aggregator · 2 reference database · 5 news reporting. Score = weighted average of the components that have data; the 2 without sourced evidence are excluded, never counted against the member. Methodology →
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