House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) on Monday unveiled legislation to ban members of Congress, their spouses, and their children from purchasing publicly traded stocks, which has received endorsements from GOP leadership, moderates, and conservatives.
“The American people deserve to know their Member of Congress is not profiting off insider information. The Stop Insider Trading Act ensures that cannot happen,” Steil, the Committee on House Administration (CHA) said in a written statement. “This legislation is critical to restoring the public’s trust in their elected officials. If you want to trade stocks, go to Wall Street, not Capitol Hill.”
Steil’s legislation, the Stop Insider Trading Act, would:
- bar lawmakers, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing a security issued by a publicly traded company;
- stipulate that lawmakers file a public notice at least seven days in advance of an intended sale with the Clerk of the House of Representatives;
- mandate that the House Ethics Committee issue a fee equal to $2,000 or 10 percent of the value of the covered investment, whichever is greater, and the net gain realized from the sale.
The legislation is backed by Republicans across the spectrum, including GOP leadership, conservatives, and moderates.
“No member of Congress should be allowed to profit from insider information, and this legislation represents an important step in our efforts to restore the people’s faith and trust in Congress,” said Speaker Mike Johnson. “Both Republicans and Democrats will have an opportunity to make their voices heard and affirm their support.”
“I’ve worked closely with Chairman Steil, who has been tirelessly putting together a bill that bans stock trading by Members of Congress, and would like to move this bill for a full House vote soon after it gets out of committee,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said in a written statement.
“The people should be able to trust the motives of their representatives in Congress — yet active stock trading that enriches certain members has broken that trust,” said Rep. Chip Roy. “This bill is a collaborative product that takes a giant step forward to restore trust by ending stock purchases and forging pre-sale disclosure.”
Stop Insider Trading Act’s original cosponsors include:
- Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL), CHA Vice Chair
- Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), CHA Member
- Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), CHA Member
- Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH), CHA Member
- Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), CHA Member
- Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC), CHA Member
- Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)
- Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL)
- Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY)
- Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX)
The legislation, however, still has its partisan detractors.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Seth Magaziner (D-RI) said that the bill “falls short of what the American people want and deserve.”
“While this bill prohibits Members from buying new stocks, it does nothing to remove the conflict of interest that arises from owning or selling existing stocks. Members can still act on legislation, investigations, and briefings that directly influence the value of their stocks for personal benefit,” the Democrats wrote in a joint statement.
Steil’s legislation would build upon on the Stock Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, a bipartisan bill that requires public disclosure of stock trading over $1,000 made on behalf of congressmen or their spouses within 45 days:
In 2011, Breitbart News senior contributor and Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President Peter Schweizer rocked official Washington with his investigative revelations of insider trading by members of Congress. Left-leaning Slate hailed Schweizer’s blockbuster book on the topic, Throw Them All Out, “the book that started the STOCK Act stampede.”
One of the main figures featured in Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out was then-chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Spencer Bachus (R-AL), who announced he would not seek reelection after the book’s revelations.
The late Andrew Breitbart called on Bachus to resign from the revelations. CBS’s 60 Minutes did an investigative report based on Schweizer’s revelations that won them the Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for excellence in Washington-based journalism.
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