WASHINGTON — A bipartisan push to place further restrictions on stock trading by members of Congress is gaining traction, with lawmakers advocating for the issue to get a vote on the House floor.
The House Administration Committee met last week to discuss reforms to the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, which requires congressional lawmakers to disclose trades of more than $1,000. It also makes clear that insider trading by members of Congress is prohibited.
“The American people should be confident that lawmakers are working for them – not seeking office to financially benefit themselves,” said committee chair Rep. Bryan Steil, R-WI.
All of Alabama’s congressional delegation members except for Reps. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, and Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, own stocks, according to a report from the Campaign Legal Center.
Figures and Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, are the only two members of the state’s nine federal lawmakers who do not have widely held investment funds, such as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and pensions, according to the report.
Among the delegation, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala, is the most prolific trader. He also has the most stock trades out of anyone else in the Senate, according to Unusual Whales, a platform that analyzes trading activity. But multiple House members on both sides of the aisle trade more than Tuberville.
Taking into account both House members and senators, 48% own stocks, with 59% of owners being Republicans and 41% Democrats, according to the Campaign Legal Center.
At least 25 bills have been introduced this Congress to limit lawmakers’ financial assets. Proponents of the bills say members of Congress have access to non-public information that can benefit their portfolios and that can lead to distrust in the institution.
One bipartisan bill, the Restore Trust in Congress Act, would prohibit lawmakers and their immediate family members from owning, purchasing, or selling individual stocks and other financial assets. Some of the lawmakers involved in that measure held a press conference before Wednesday’s hearing to urge action on the bill.
“When members are making decisions for how to vote on a bill, we should be thinking about what’s best for the American people, not what is best for our investment accounts,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-RI, said.
Policy experts at the hearing highlighted how the current STOCK Act falls short on keeping members of Congress’ trading in check.
James Copland with the Manhattan Institute pointed out that no member has ever been prosecuted under the law. Another expert said the cost of a violation under the law is just $200, making it “hardly a useful deterrent,” Dan Savickas, with the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said.
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, a member of the committee, said reform on the issue is “long overdue.” At the hearing, she asked the experts what one reform to the STOCK Act they believed would be beneficial.
“I think forced divestment into diversified mutual funds and ETFs to tie members of Congress’ financial success to the overall success of the American economy,” Savickas said.
Sewell also asked about the possibility of placing further restrictions on those in the executive or judicial branches. Some bills have also included a ban on stock trading by other government officials, but much of the focus in Congress remains on the federal lawmakers themselves.
“(The) on-again, off-again nature of the tariffs really yields a lot of profit for people in the executive,” she said, referring to the Trump administration.
Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, one of the sponsors of the bipartisan bill to ban stock trading by members of Congress, said it would be a “fist fight” to get a floor vote on the issue.
In May, Speaker Mike Johnson said he was in “favor of a ban” but acknowledged that congressional salaries haven’t risen since 2009, making stock trading a way to help members make money.
Magaziner said those who are against a ban aren’t as publicly vocal, but “are in the ear of leadership on both parties,” making it harder for a vote to occur, but he added that he felt optimistic.