House Passes Bill Restricting Congressional Stock Trading Amid Senate Pushback

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation aimed at prohibiting members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks, sending the ethics reform measure to an uncertain future in the Senate.

The measure, titled the Stop Insider Trading Act and sponsored by Representative Bryan Steil, passed in a 232–198 vote. Designed to prevent lawmakers from leveraging non-public legislative information for personal financial gain, the bill establishes strict compliance oversight and financial penalties for violations.

Under the proposed provisions, lawmakers would be barred from acquiring new stock positions while in office. However, the bill permits officials to retain their existing equity holdings, provided they submit a mandatory seven-day advance notification before executing any stock sales.

The vote marks one of the most prominent legislative actions on congressional ethics reform since the enactment of the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. While the 2012 law established public disclosure mandates for financial transactions within 45 days, critics have long argued that its delayed reporting timeline and modest financial fines failed to effectively deter potential conflicts of interest among federal lawmakers.

Despite clearing the House, the legislation faces strong opposition in the Senate, where progressive lawmakers argue the current draft contains significant exemptions. Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly rejected the proposal, asserting that allowing members to keep and sell existing equity portfolios creates loopholes, and insisted that public servants should be entirely prohibited from owning, buying, or selling individual stocks while serving in government.

The scope of the Stop Insider Trading Act is restricted to congressional members and their immediate families, excluding the president and vice president. This contrasts with other federal regulatory proposals, such as the proposed Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which includes provisions barring all U.S. public officials from issuing or sponsoring digital tokens through 2029.

The stock trading vote follows related efforts to curb financial speculation tied to legislative and political outcomes. Steil previously introduced the Stop Lawmakers from Predicting Act, which targets trading on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. That proposal seeks to prevent public officials and their immediate families from wagering on political events and public policy decisions, imposing penalties equal to $2,000 or 10% of the prohibited bet value.