Could a consensus bill be the key to a congressional stock trading ban?

Source: Roll Call

Posted September 3, 2025 at 4:28pm


Some lawmakers sounded optimistic on Wednesday that their colleagues may soon be willing to curb their own stock trading, as they unveiled bipartisan legislation they had hammered out. The measure is the latest in a series of efforts to bring a bill to the floor that would address the perception that members are trading on inside information gleaned from their work in Congress. “Members of Congress have access to inside information. Period, end of story,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who has long pushed for action on the issue.

Introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, the new bill would ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks. Unlike some other proposals, it does not allow blind trusts, and it applies only to lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children — not to the president or vice president.

At Wednesday’s news conference, members described how Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., approached a wide range of members and asked them to work on a compromise effort. The working group included Roy; Fitzpatrick; Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., along with others who have taken stabs at banning congressional stock trading.

One sticking point in previous efforts was the issue of penalties and enforcement. The new proposal would allow the House and Senate Ethics committees to identify offenders and direct them to pay a fee of 10 percent of the investment. It would require the Ethics panels to track those fees on a public website.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/09/03/could-consensus-bill-be-key-to-congressional-stock-trading-ban/