Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act
Senate Bill Proposes Ban on Individual Stock Trading for Members of Congress and Their Families
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- This bill requires Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to either sell their individual stocks and commodities or put them into a 'blind trust.' A blind trust is a setup where a professional manager makes all the investment decisions, and the owner is not allowed to know what is being bought or sold.
- The rule applies to all current and future members of the House and Senate. Lawmakers would have 120 days after the law passes to comply. New members joining Congress later would also have 120 days from their start date to move their investments into a trust or sell them.
- The goal of this policy is to prevent 'insider trading' and conflicts of interest. Because lawmakers often have access to private information about companies and the economy, these rules ensure they cannot use that information to make money for themselves or their families.
- Lawmakers would still be allowed to own certain types of investments that are considered lower risk for conflicts. These include diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and U.S. Treasury bonds, as these do not focus on a single company or industry.
- If a lawmaker fails to follow these rules, they will face significant fines. The penalty for not complying is a monthly fine equal to one full month of the lawmaker's government salary for as long as they remain out of compliance.
- To ensure honesty, government ethics offices would be required to post information online for the public to see. This includes copies of trust agreements and lists of assets that were put into the trusts, though the specific daily trades made by the manager would remain hidden from the lawmaker.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Life & Work
This bill does not directly change conditions for most federal employees, but it significantly affects the roughly 535 Members of Congress and their families. Lawmakers would be forced to divest individual stocks, commodities, and futures—or place them in blind trusts—within 120 days. Non-compliance triggers monthly fines equal to one month's congressional salary. While Congress members are a tiny subset of federal employees, the bill restructures the financial conduct rules governing the most senior elected officials in the legislative branch.
Activities
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
News
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Group of House Democrats introduce new stock trading bill
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(15)Political Response
Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.