The US House on Wednesday advanced legislation that would bar members of Congress from buying individual stocks while in office, taking the first major step on an issue that has dogged lawmakers for years.
The bill passed on a 232-198 vote, with more than a dozen Democrats joining Republicans in support.
There is broad public support for banning members of Congress from trading while in office, as lawmakers’ well-timed trades and booming portfolios have raised trade concerns among ethics watchdogs and drawn significant public scrutiny back in the past decades.
But the GOP-led legislation advanced by the House, called the Stop Insider Trading Act, falls short of what the top advocates of congressional trading bans have called for. And many Democrats have lined up against the proposal.
“I’m very disappointed about it. The stock trading ban still allows stock trading. It’s a weak building,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D.R.I., who is part of a bipartisan coalition that has advocated for a total ban, told CNBC.
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), speak at a news conference with a group of House members who have come together to force their families to trade shares on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, September 3, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst Reuters
House Republicans also attached a voter identification provision to the measure, ending some Democratic support. Democratic leaders urged their caucus to vote for the bill.
President Donald Trump has been pushing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would impose voting ID and proof of citizenship requirements on voters across the U.S. The measure has no support to clear Congress.
The stock trading bill with the voter ID mandate was now on the Senate floor, where most bills need 60 votes to defeat a filibuster. Its fate in that room is unclear.
A 2012 federal law already makes it illegal for members of Congress to trade inside information, but the penalties associated with that law are weak and rarely, if ever, enforced.
The law was voted on Wednesday, introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., would bar members of Congress from buying individual stocks while in office, but would not require them to divide their holdings into individual company stocks. It will also allow members to sell parts of their portfolio, provided they publicly disclose their intention to sell at least seven days in advance.
The bill would also increase penalties for members who fail to properly disclose stock sales, capping fines of $2,000 or 10% of the value of the transaction, whichever is greater. The current fine for disclosure violations is $200 for first-time violators.
“I think it’s very important that we tell the American people that we’re done allowing members of Congress to day-trade stocks,” Steil said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday before the vote. “Let’s remove even the pretense that any trade offer is based on any inside information one might gain while serving in Washington.”
