A bipartisan bill to ban lawmakers from trading stocks is unveiled in the House

A bipartisan group of House members has unveiled new legislation that would ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks.

For more than a decade, a series of bills have been proposed to address such trades, but differences about the details and a lack of support from top congressional leaders stalled past reform efforts. But in announcing the new bill on Wednesday, a group of leading conservatives and progressives said the issue is ripe for action in 2025 and that they had agreed on a new plan.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy and Rhode Island Democrat Seth Magaziner led the process of crafting the bipartisan effort to end lawmakers trading stocks. Roy told reporters on Wednesday that the bill was the result of years of negotiations aimed at addressing demands from voters worried about insider trading.

“They do not send us here to enrich ourselves while we are voting on the issues they send us here to fix and address and then have members who are trading stocks on the very issues they’re supposed to be voting on,” Roy said.

The legislation would require lawmakers to sell all individual stocks within 180 days. Newly elected members of Congress would also have to divest of individual stock holdings before being sworn in. Members who fail to divest would face a fine equivalent to 10% of the value of the stock. The proposed ban extends to spouses and dependent children.

Unlike past efforts, the legislation was developed by a working group of sponsors of various reform plans who spent months trying to consolidate support behind one bill. The current legislation has the backing of members across the ideological spectrum in Congress. Roy, a leading far-right member, announced the bill alongside Magaziner and leading progressive Democrats including Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY.

“It is long past time that we ban members of Congress from trading stocks,” Magaziner said Wednesday at a press conference on Capitol Hill. “The opportunity for corruption is just so great. When members of Congress decide how to vote on a bill, they should vote on what they think is best for the American people, not on what is best for their investment accounts.”

Lawmakers have been dogged by questions

Lawmakers from both parties have faced questions about personal trading activity that may have been informed by access to nonpublic information they learned while serving on committees responsible for oversight of various industries. Watchdogs have long raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest for members who decide to buy or sell stocks after learning that Congress is about to vote on legislation that could impact a company’s bottom line.

The new legislation was unveiled at a moment when support appears to be growing among leaders in Washington. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who doesn’t own any individual stock, supports a ban. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has endorsed recent legislation. President Trump has also backed the idea, giving momentum to the issue earlier this year.

In August, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg he also supported a ban, citing Democrats for having what he called “eye-popping returns.” Republican lawmakers have similarly garnered attention for outsized returns.

“The American people deserve better than this,” Bessent said.

Under the current law, known as the STOCK Act, lawmakers are required to disclose any trades over $1,000 within 30 days. Congress passed the law overwhelmingly in 2012 after a series of press reports highlighted allegations of congressional insider trading. Failing to report triggers a $200 fine.

Backers of the compromise plan believe there is sufficient support for their legislation, plus a public statement of support on the issue by Speaker Johnson.

Senate action is unclear, and opposition is still significant

In the Senate, a key committee approved a bipartisan bill in July that would ban lawmakers in Congress from trading or holding individual stocks. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has pointed out that some lawmakers have concerns about new limitations and hasn’t signaled he’s willing to put the bill on the floor.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, the lone Republican sponsor of the Senate measure, said at a committee markup earlier this summer that “members of this body are privy to information that the normal person is not.” Hawley said he’s not equating that to insider trading, but “nobody really believes that the information we get is not valuable. It is quite valuable.”

The push for reform faces significant bipartisan opposition on both sides of the Capitol. Many lawmakers argue that new rules around financial portfolios will discourage people from wanting to serve in Congress.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., ripped the Senate bill as “legislative demagoguery” in July and said the U.S. already has insider trading and financial disclosure requirements.

Hawley has countered that the reason to enact reform is to combat the perception that Congress plays by a different set of rules than its constituents. “I don’t mind anybody getting rich. What I mind is people getting rich while they’re here trading stock,” Hawley said during a July hearing.