The U.S. House is scheduled to consider legislation Wednesday afternoon that would bar members of Congress from buying individual stocks while in office, potentially the first meaningful action on an issue that has vexed lawmakers for years.
there is widespread public support To ban trading by members of Congress while in office, as lawmakers’ well-timed trading and rapidly growing portfolios have raised concerns of insider trading among ethics watchdogs and drawn intense public scrutiny. going back decades.
But the GOP-led legislation before the House was struck down stop insider trading actThis is far less than what the most vocal supporters of the trade ban in Congress had demanded. And the Democrats stand against this proposal.
“I’m very disappointed by it. It’s a stock trading ban that still allows stock trading. It’s a weak bill,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., part of a bipartisan coalition that has advocated for a more thorough ban, told CNBC.
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), along with Representative Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), speak at a press conference with a bipartisan group of House members, saying they will stop members of Congress and their families from stock trading on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US Are ready to force a vote on legislation to ban. 3, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | reuters
House Republicans also engaged voter-identification provision Overall, any Democratic support could diminish its chances and complicate its path to passage. President Donald Trump is pressing Congress to approve the Save America Act, which would impose voter-ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements on voters across the US. The measure lacks the support to approve Congress.
If the stock trading bill with a voter-ID mandate does advance to the Senate, where most bills need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, its fate is unclear.
A 2012 federal law It is already illegal for members of Congress to trade on inside information, but the penalties associated with that law are weak and rarely enforced.
Rep. A vote is taking place Wednesday on legislation introduced by Brian Still, R-Wis., that would bar members of Congress from buying individual stocks while in office, but would not require them to sell their existing investments in individual company shares. It will also allow members to sell parts of their portfolio, provided they publicly disclose their intention to sell at least seven days in advance.
The bill would also increase penalties for members who fail to properly disclose stock sales, with a fine of $2,000 or 10% of the value of the transaction, whichever is greater. The current fine for a disclosure violation is $200 for first-time offenders.
“I think it’s really important that we let the American people know that we have allowed members of Congress to become day-trading stocks,” Still said in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday, ahead of the vote. “Let’s also remove the appearance of impropriety that any trade is based on any inside information that a person can obtain while serving in Washington.”