House committee to reform bill banning congressional stock trading
The House Administration Commitee will mark up legislation on Jan. 14 to ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from buying individual stocks. Rep. Bryan Steil’s Stop Insider Trading Act would bar new stock purchases, require a public seven-day notice before sales, but still allow lawmakers to keep existing holdings. Supporters, including Rep. Anna paulina Luna and Speaker Mike Johnson, say the bill restores public trust; Luna had threatened a discharge petition to force action. Critics such as Reps. Seth Magaziner, Pramila Jayapal, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argue the measure falls short because it does not remove conflicts arising from owning or selling current stock positions. The proposal follows long-running, bipartisan efforts to tighten rules after the limited-impact 2012 STOCK Act, which imposes modest penalties and reporting requirements.
House Administration Committee to mark up bill banning congressional stock trading
The House Administration Committee announced a Jan. 14 hearing to mark up legislation on the longtime issue of a congressional stock trade ban.
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) unveiled legislation Monday to “prohibit Members of Congress, spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks.”
Members of both parties have been working for years to find a solution to the issue, popular among the public, marking this hearing as a win for many advocates.
“A bill is expected to be passed out of committee as early as this week that will prohibit members of Congress from buying individual stocks,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) wrote on X. “This is a win, but it should be noted that this would not have happened if individual members, both Democrats and Republicans, had not stepped forward to call this out on both sides. I look forward to reviewing the full text, but based on the toplines discussed over the past few weeks, this is a step in the right direction, and I look forward to supporting it on the floor.”
Luna had threatened a discharge petition for months to force a vote on the issue after little movement had been made despite strong bipartisan support.
Steil’s bill, the Stop Insider Trading Act, requires a public seven-day notice before a lawmaker, spouse, or dependent children can sell a stock. While the bill appeases some concerns about congressional stock trading, it would still allow lawmakers to retain their existing stock holdings.
If the bill passes out of committee, it will then be up to GOP leadership to schedule a full vote on the issue to pass it off to the upper chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) backed the legislation as it was unveiled.
“No member of Congress should be allowed to profit from insider information, and this legislation represents an important step in our efforts to restore the people’s faith and trust in Congress,” Johnson said in a statement. “Both Republicans and Democrats will have an opportunity to make their voices heard and affirm their support.”
But not all advocates for the issue support the legislation put forward Monday.
Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) expressed their distaste for the bill, saying it “falls short of what the American people want and deserve.”
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“While this bill prohibits Members from buying new stocks, it does nothing to remove conflict of interest that arises from owning or selling existing stocks,” the members wrote in statement. “Members can still act on legislation, investigations, and briefings that directly influence the value of their stocks for personal benefit.”
This issue has undergone numerous pushes but has never been fully successful in either chamber. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, signed into law in 2012, prohibits members from acting on insider information and requires them to report their trades within 45 days, but the law acts more as a slap on the wrist. The penalty is a mere $200 fine, and members have not been punished for said violations.
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