US CONGRESS
Stock trading ban supporters hope fight has reached 'tipping point'
Ben Werschkul · Washington Correspondent
A push to keep Trump out of it
The concept of a ban has also been getting some tentative support from leaders. Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is in favor of a ban.
Just this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated to Punchbowl News his personal support for a ban, but added, "I respect the views of other people on the subject," calling it "a tough issue."
The strategy for the bill's proponents — which includes supporters from liberals like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to Trump allies like Tim Burchett of Tennessee — appears to be to get quick momentum behind it and overcome financial concerns and any leadership slow-walking.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shares a fist bump with Representative Tim Burchett at the news conference. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) · REUTERS / Reuters
One step is removing the political roadblocks that have stopped efforts before.
In 2022, an effort to pass a ban floundered when Democrats said that the White House, Supreme Court, and Federal Reserve officials should be included in a ban.
Partisan objections quickly sank the effort.
This time around, advocates are focused solely on lawmakers, even as amendments to include more officials remain possible.
"I would likely support going in that direction," Rep. Roy noted this week of the idea of banning trading among more Washington officials. But he defended the more limited approach, saying, "I think we need to focus right now on one very clear message."
Trump himself has sent a series of mixed messages on the issue.
This spring, Trump said he would "absolutely" sign a bill banning members of Congress from trading stocks.
But then this summer, Trump attacked a GOP lawmaker who was pushing a plan that would include the office of the president, saying it plays into Democratic hands and that his opponents "have been trying to 'Target' me for a long period of time."
Excluding Trump is a detail sure to make some Democrats uneasy, but even some of Trump's biggest adversaries, like Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, remain on board
"I think we are doing the simplest thing that we can do, in many ways," she said this week.
Ben Werschkul · Washington Correspondent
YAHOO FINANCE
Updated Sun, September 7, 2025
Lawmakers this week renewed a push to ban lawmaker stock trading, as previously competing proposals were merged and a new 10-page Restore Trust in Congress Act was unveiled to fanfare.
The hope: The stars might finally be aligning around the issue.
That optimism rests on widespread public support — one survey found 86% of Americans backed a ban — and a trio of policy choices that could help the bill navigate coming political attacks and the pocketbook concerns of some skeptical lawmakers.
These three provisions, for one thing, sidestep President Trump and his White House. (They are excluded from the ban.) They also include tax breaks for lawmakers as they divest and ban certain types of blind trusts.
Advocates hope these changes could help the bill navigate tricky politics as lawmakers decide whether to police themselves.
"We have reached a tipping point where pressure from outside the building is becoming too much for leadership to deny," Rep. Seth Magaziner, a Rhode Island Democrat, said during the formal unveiling Wednesday.
Updated Sun, September 7, 2025
Lawmakers this week renewed a push to ban lawmaker stock trading, as previously competing proposals were merged and a new 10-page Restore Trust in Congress Act was unveiled to fanfare.
The hope: The stars might finally be aligning around the issue.
That optimism rests on widespread public support — one survey found 86% of Americans backed a ban — and a trio of policy choices that could help the bill navigate coming political attacks and the pocketbook concerns of some skeptical lawmakers.
These three provisions, for one thing, sidestep President Trump and his White House. (They are excluded from the ban.) They also include tax breaks for lawmakers as they divest and ban certain types of blind trusts.
Advocates hope these changes could help the bill navigate tricky politics as lawmakers decide whether to police themselves.
"We have reached a tipping point where pressure from outside the building is becoming too much for leadership to deny," Rep. Seth Magaziner, a Rhode Island Democrat, said during the formal unveiling Wednesday.
Pressure increasing: Representatives Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) are leading a bipartisan group of House members to say they are prepared to force a vote on legislation to ban members of Congress and their families from trading stocks. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) · REUTERS / Reuters
Magaziner is leading the new effort alongside Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican. Both are promising to force a full vote on the House floor one way or another.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, is also pushing the effort. She set a deadline of the end of this month, when she says she'll seek to force a vote through the discharge petition process to bypass leadership.
The renewed push comes with lawmaker trading in new focus after a series of reports have highlighted an elevated number of stock transactions around tariff-fueled market fluctuations earlier this year.
"Having a compromise bill that has the leads of all of these major bills on it is a huge step forward," said Aaron Stephens, a senior legislative strategist at Progressive Change Campaign Committee, one of several groups that have been prodding this issue for years.
He added that the previously somewhat scattered effort has "always been a barrier to getting this done [but] now that this compromise text is out, we actually have something to push forward with."
Magaziner is leading the new effort alongside Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican. Both are promising to force a full vote on the House floor one way or another.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, is also pushing the effort. She set a deadline of the end of this month, when she says she'll seek to force a vote through the discharge petition process to bypass leadership.
The renewed push comes with lawmaker trading in new focus after a series of reports have highlighted an elevated number of stock transactions around tariff-fueled market fluctuations earlier this year.
"Having a compromise bill that has the leads of all of these major bills on it is a huge step forward," said Aaron Stephens, a senior legislative strategist at Progressive Change Campaign Committee, one of several groups that have been prodding this issue for years.
He added that the previously somewhat scattered effort has "always been a barrier to getting this done [but] now that this compromise text is out, we actually have something to push forward with."
A push to keep Trump out of it
The concept of a ban has also been getting some tentative support from leaders. Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is in favor of a ban.
Just this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated to Punchbowl News his personal support for a ban, but added, "I respect the views of other people on the subject," calling it "a tough issue."
The strategy for the bill's proponents — which includes supporters from liberals like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to Trump allies like Tim Burchett of Tennessee — appears to be to get quick momentum behind it and overcome financial concerns and any leadership slow-walking.
One step is removing the political roadblocks that have stopped efforts before.
In 2022, an effort to pass a ban floundered when Democrats said that the White House, Supreme Court, and Federal Reserve officials should be included in a ban.
Partisan objections quickly sank the effort.
This time around, advocates are focused solely on lawmakers, even as amendments to include more officials remain possible.
"I would likely support going in that direction," Rep. Roy noted this week of the idea of banning trading among more Washington officials. But he defended the more limited approach, saying, "I think we need to focus right now on one very clear message."
Trump himself has sent a series of mixed messages on the issue.
This spring, Trump said he would "absolutely" sign a bill banning members of Congress from trading stocks.
But then this summer, Trump attacked a GOP lawmaker who was pushing a plan that would include the office of the president, saying it plays into Democratic hands and that his opponents "have been trying to 'Target' me for a long period of time."
Excluding Trump is a detail sure to make some Democrats uneasy, but even some of Trump's biggest adversaries, like Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, remain on board
"I think we are doing the simplest thing that we can do, in many ways," she said this week.
President Trump is seen in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 3. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images) · The Washington Post via Getty Images
Other provisions to mollify persistent worries
In addition, two other provisions are sure to be closely chewed over in the weeks ahead and may impact lawmakers' pocketbooks more directly.
The first is an exclusion of so-called qualified blind trusts.
Allowing this more limited version of the blind trust has raised worries as a potential loophole — especially if lawmakers use the process to put their assets into a trust that does not require that the underlying assets necessarily be sold.
A more comprehensive blind trust — one that requires the underlying asset to be sold off and replaced without the owner's knowledge — remains allowed. But it is a more complicated procedure, generally open only to those with the biggest bank accounts.
Fewer options on blind trusts may be unappealing to lawmakers, but there is also one key carrot in the bill: tax rule provisions that would limit the short-term tax hit if the bill passes and lawmakers are forced to divest.
The bill would give existing members — and their spouses and dependent children — 180 days to sell individual stocks (widely held mutual funds and ETFs will remain allowed) and then impose fines and force lawmakers to disgorge any profits if they break the rules.
Newly elected members of Congress will have 90 days from their swearing-in to divest their individual stocks.
And when they do? This bill would allow what is called a certificate of divestiture to delay any mammoth tax bill that might come with selling assets all at once
Capital gains on profits would be deferred for those who divest until potentially years later. For example, when a member later sells a mutual fund that they moved their funds into.
"We won't make you have a big tax bill," Roy noted this week, "but you are going to have to divest of all of these individual equities and put them into broadly held funds so you're not able to day trade."
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
In addition, two other provisions are sure to be closely chewed over in the weeks ahead and may impact lawmakers' pocketbooks more directly.
The first is an exclusion of so-called qualified blind trusts.
Allowing this more limited version of the blind trust has raised worries as a potential loophole — especially if lawmakers use the process to put their assets into a trust that does not require that the underlying assets necessarily be sold.
A more comprehensive blind trust — one that requires the underlying asset to be sold off and replaced without the owner's knowledge — remains allowed. But it is a more complicated procedure, generally open only to those with the biggest bank accounts.
Fewer options on blind trusts may be unappealing to lawmakers, but there is also one key carrot in the bill: tax rule provisions that would limit the short-term tax hit if the bill passes and lawmakers are forced to divest.
The bill would give existing members — and their spouses and dependent children — 180 days to sell individual stocks (widely held mutual funds and ETFs will remain allowed) and then impose fines and force lawmakers to disgorge any profits if they break the rules.
Newly elected members of Congress will have 90 days from their swearing-in to divest their individual stocks.
And when they do? This bill would allow what is called a certificate of divestiture to delay any mammoth tax bill that might come with selling assets all at once
Capital gains on profits would be deferred for those who divest until potentially years later. For example, when a member later sells a mutual fund that they moved their funds into.
"We won't make you have a big tax bill," Roy noted this week, "but you are going to have to divest of all of these individual equities and put them into broadly held funds so you're not able to day trade."
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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