Another member of Congress has jumped into SpaceX stock after the company's long-awaited IPO — and so far, it's not looking like a great trade.

Rep. John McGuire (R-Va.) disclosed buying between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of SpaceX (SPCX) on June 15, according to filings tracked by MarketDash. The only other trade on that disclosure was a sale of BlackRock (BLK) shares, also in the $1,000 to $15,000 range, on July 7.

Here's the problem: SpaceX stock traded between $168.35 and $193 on the day McGuire bought. As of today, shares are at $148.01. That means the congressman is sitting on a loss of somewhere between 12.1% and 23.3%, depending on exactly when he executed the trade. Ouch.

McGuire joins a small club of lawmakers who own SpaceX stock. The list includes:

• Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.)
• Rep. Daniel Meuser (R-Pa.)
• Sen. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.)

Cisneros and Meuser both bought shares after the June 12 IPO — Cisneros on June 18 and Meuser on June 15. McClain became a shareholder before the IPO, when her husband bought a stake in xAI before it merged with SpaceX.

What makes this interesting — and potentially problematic — is that both McGuire and Cisneros sit on the House Armed Services Committee. SpaceX has a ton of federal contracts, including deals with the Pentagon, NASA, and Space Force. As a committee member, McGuire could theoretically have advance knowledge of government contracts or vote on matters that directly affect a company he owns stock in. It's the kind of situation that tends to make ethics watchdogs nervous.

A Look at McGuire's Trading History

McGuire isn't a prolific trader. According to data from Quiver Quantitative, he's made only 16 trades since 2025, totaling around $128,000. But a couple of those trades stand out.

In January 2026, he bought Microsoft (MSFT) stock and sold it just nine days later. Microsoft traded between $438.68 and $452.69 on the purchase date, and between $426.45 and $439.60 on the sale date. With a maximum disclosed trade size of $15,000, that would have been about 33 to 34 shares. Selling nine days later would have returned between $14,132.55 and $15,029.92 — meaning the outcome ranged from a $867.45 loss to a $29.92 gain. That's a swing of –5.8% to +0.2%. Not great.

To be fair, the sale came shortly after Microsoft's earnings and before the stock slid further. Microsoft now trades at $402.43, so the exit actually avoided a deeper drop. Sometimes being early is better than being wrong.

McGuire also previously bought UnitedHealth Group (UNH) stock, a trade that drew attention because of its timing. The purchase came before quarterly financial results and a further share collapse for the health insurer. And here's the kicker: McGuire serves on the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, a unit of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. That overlap between committee work and stock trading is exactly the kind of thing that gets people asking questions.

For now, McGuire's SpaceX bet is underwater. Whether he holds on for a recovery or cuts his losses remains to be seen. But the optics of a lawmaker buying stock in a company with massive government contracts — and losing money on it — are certainly something to watch.