House backs stock-trading limits for lawmakers, with voter ID attached

The House voted Wednesday to restrict some stock activity by members of Congress, handing Republicans a win on an ethics issue that has simmered for years while also attaching a voting rule Democrats sharply opposed.

The bill passed 232 to 198. Thirteen Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting it.

The measure, called the Stop Insider Trading Act and introduced in January by Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican, would bar members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from buying publicly traded stocks.

It would also require lawmakers to give public notice before selling stock. Under the bill, an intended sale would have to be disclosed to the House clerk or Senate secretary at least seven days in advance.

Violations would bring a penalty of either $2,000 or 10% of the transaction’s value, whichever is larger. The bill would also require any realized gains from the sale to be forfeited.

Steil said Monday that the proposal is meant to stop lawmakers from using information gained through their offices to make money in the market.

Democrats call it too weak

Democratic criticism landed on two fronts: the bill does not force lawmakers to sell stocks they already hold, and Republicans paired it with an unrelated photo identification requirement for voting in federal elections.

The voter ID language comes as President Trump has pushed for stricter voter-eligibility rules.

Rep. Joe Morelle of New York said Monday that the bill would still allow members of Congress to hold and trade individual stocks. He said lawmakers could keep current holdings and sell them whenever they choose, with no divestiture requirement.

Morelle also faulted the measure for not applying to the White House. Democrats have pushed for stock restrictions that would also cover the president and administration officials.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington dismissed the measure as “a fake stock trading ban.”

Old law, new pressure

Congress has already tried to police financial conflicts through the STOCK Act, a 13-year-old law that bars members of Congress, executive branch officials and other federal employees from using nonpublic information for personal financial benefit.

That law also requires officials to report stock trades above $1,000 within 45 days. Despite violations, no member of Congress has been prosecuted under it.

Pressure for a tougher ban has come from both parties. Late last year, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, tried to force a floor vote on the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act through a discharge petition. That bill would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks, but the petition remains well short of the 218 signatures needed.

Morelle is leading a separate discharge petition for a Democratic bill with a similar name, the Restore Trust in Government Act. That proposal would extend a ban on owning or trading individual stocks to members of Congress, the president, vice president and their families. It is closer to the required threshold, but still dozens of signatures short.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said after Luna filed her petition that he was working with Steil, who chairs the House Administration Committee, on another way to address the issue. Steil’s bill came out of that effort.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, the lead sponsor of the Restore Trust in Congress Act, said during Wednesday’s debate that the stock-trading bill deserved a clean vote without the voter ID provision. Roy said lawmakers in both parties had worked in good faith on the issue and added that he would keep demanding a direct vote on stock trading this year.

A Senate proposal led by Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, advanced out of committee last year. That bill would ban lawmakers, the president, vice president and their families from owning stocks, but it has not moved further in the Senate.

This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.