No Corruption in Government Act

Key Points

• This bill would stop members of Congress and their spouses from owning or trading individual stocks, futures, or commodities. To avoid conflicts of interest, they would only be allowed to invest in broad options like mutual funds or use "blind trusts" where they have no say in what is bought or sold.
• The proposal significantly increases the "cooling off" period before a former lawmaker can work as a lobbyist. Former Senators would have to wait six years instead of two, and former House members would have to wait three years instead of one before they can try to influence their former colleagues.
• It would end automatic yearly pay raises for members of Congress. Currently, their pay can go up automatically to keep up with the cost of living, but this bill would require a specific law to be passed whenever they want a raise.
• Lawmakers who break the stock trading rules would be forced to give any profits they made to the U.S. Treasury. They would also be blocked from using any losses from those trades to lower their taxes and could be hit with expensive civil fines.