The House Administration Committee could hold a hearing next week on congressional stock trading, reopening a deeply contentious issue on Capitol Hill and potentially paving the way for action on a bipartisan bill to ban lawmakers from trading stocks.
Three people granted anonymity to describe the tentative plans ahead of a formal announcement said the panel is targeting the latter half of next week for the hearing, which would focus on general developments around lawmakers’ stock trading since Congress passed legislation in 2012 outlawing member trading on insider information.
The timing is dependent on how quickly the House can approve the Senate-passed funding package ending the government shutdown. Initial votes are expected Wednesday evening.
A congressional stock trading ban has been divisive among the House rank-and-file, and it’s one of the major issues Speaker Mike Johnson has to confront when the House returns this week. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who has threatened to advance a discharge petition to circumvent Johnson, said she secured a commitment for action from him in recent days.
Luna, Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) and a group of lawmakers unveiled a bipartisan, compromise bill on the topic in September, but the government shutdown has stymied any progress.
Roy confirmed in a recent interview that he and fellow Republicans are ready to push GOP leaders to put their bipartisan stock trading ban bill on the floor whenever the House returns — or else deploy a discharge petition.
Roy, a member of the House Rules Committee, said Republicans need to figure out the timing going into November and December for when the legislation could go to the floor. He said GOP leaders, who have been skeptical of the effort, are “having conversations” about the legislation.
Some lawmakers aren’t convinced the bipartisan bill is the best vehicle for a stock-trading ban and are discussing other options, according to three other people with direct knowledge of the conversations.
There’s skepticism inside Johnson’s leadership circle about how to pass such a bill given firm opposition from many House Republicans. But Johnson has pledged in private conversations to work on the matter, according to two other Republicans granted anonymity to describe the private conversations, and Roy said that the speaker is feeling pressure to act.
The people familiar with the hearing plans said there are no firm plans at this time to mark up legislation banning lawmakers from trading stocks.
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