WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House narrowly passed a bill Wednesday that would bar members, their spouses and dependent children from buying new stocks in publicly traded companies while they serve in Congress.
However, a controversial voter ID proposal — which was added to the bill to appease conservative hardliners — will likely complicate its chances at becoming law.
The “Stop Insider Trading Act” cleared the House Wednesday, along with several other major pieces of legislation.
“The Stop Insider Trading Act, that bans lawmakers from trading and buying individual stocks and from abusing their office for financial gain,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., following the bill’s passage.
The bill would allow lawmakers to keep private stocks they owned before taking office — and still invest in certain funds — but it prevents lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children from buying new stocks while in office.
“There’s been too many horror stories of members going from a briefing to their stockbroker in and trading big,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., after he voted for the bill. “I mean, if you have what you have when you come here, that’s one thing. But you shouldn’t be getting news in a classified briefing and running out and buying. That’s, I think, absolutely a betrayal of public trust.”
But most House Democrats opposed the bill for two main reasons. Some argue it does not go far enough, and other cited serious concerns over controversial voter ID and proof of citizenship provisions tacked onto the Stop Insider Trading Act.
“The Senate can always pass their own version of it and send it back here. They can do whatever they want to do,” said Langworthy, when asked if he believes the inclusion of components from the “SAVE America Act” would hurt the bill’s chances in the Senate.
The House-passed “Stop Insider Trading Act” now faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate.
“The American people deserve to know that their elected officials are focused on bringing down costs, not building their own personal wealth. While I appreciate that House Republicans are coming to the table on this issue, their bill is a half-measure that would not truly ban congressional stock trading or help restore the public’s trust in Congress, and they are using it as a way to pass completely unrelated and divisive legislation. My bipartisan and bicameral Restore Trust in Congress Act would actually ban members from both owning and trading stocks entirely, so the public could rest assured that their elected officials aren’t profiting from insider,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in a statement on whether she supports the bill that cleared the House Wednesday.
In January, Sen. Gillibrand introduced her bipartisan bill that would go further — banning members and their immediate families from trading and owning individual stocks.
“Stop members of Congress and their immediate families from owning, buying or selling individual stocks,” Sen. Gillibrand said in January. “There’s too much corruption in Washington right now. If you want to go and make money and have a big stock portfolio, do a different job.”
