Congressional stock trading ban bill to get its first vote Wednesday
US Capitol building at sunset in Washington DC, USA December 23, 2025.
Tyrone Siu | Reuters
Lawmakers could face a ban on new stock purchases under the bill, which will receive its first vote on Wednesday.
But hurdles remain, including opposition from most Democrats who say the bill doesn’t go far enough in curbing insider trading among lawmakers.
The bill’s main backer, Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairs the House Administration Committee, which is expected to vote on and pass the measure Wednesday.
“Your member of Congress should not be day trading stocks,” Steil said in an interview with CNBC. “You want to day trade? There’s a place for that, and it’s called Wall Street.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told CNBC that if the bill is approved by the committee, he would submit it to the chamber for a vote. It is unclear whether the bill will fully pass the Parliament. The House’s Democratic leadership has yet to weigh in on the bill, and members hope to offer amendments to strengthen it during Wednesday’s raise.
Steil’s bill is a watered-down version of previous efforts among lawmakers to ban insider trading. The measure would allow members to keep the shares they owned at the time they were elected. Members could sell shares provided that they made a public announcement seven days before the sale. Lawmakers will be able to buy and sell commodities, futures and diversified funds, and use stock dividends to buy more shares of stock they own.
Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Steil’s bill would also increase violation fees, increasing penalties to $2,000 or 10% of the transaction value, whichever is greater, or the net proceeds from the transaction.
Rep. Joe Morelle, D-Y., the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, called the bill a “quarter measure.”
“This is a way to make people believe we’re solving the problem,” he told CNBC during an interview at the Capitol. “There are so many ways to get around this. It essentially says that if you have a great deal of wealth and you come to Congress, you can continue to have a great fortune. And that’s not what we want.”
Steil ignored concerns that the legislation did not go as far as others, saying that killing any bill deemed “not good enough” would hinder progress on the issue.
“I call it the Goldilocks argument. The porridge is too cold. The porridge is too hot,” he said. “This is an opportunity to say yes or no. Do you believe your member of Congress should trade stocks while in elected office?”
Democrats are making their own plans. Morelle said he and Rep. Seth Magaziner, D.R.I., plan to file a habeas petition to force a vote on a bill that would bar not only members of Congress, but also the president and vice president, from trading stocks.
