Stock trading ban stalls in Senate as lame-duck clock runs toward Jan. 3

By Rosalind Kerrow

WASHINGTON — The House-passed bill that would bar members of Congress from buying individual stocks is still sitting on the Senate calendar, almost four weeks after it failed to clear a procedural vote. With the Senate out until Nov. 9 and the 119th Congress set to end Jan. 3, the lame-duck session is the last chance for it or any of five other pending trading-ban bills to become law this term.

The bill, the Stop Insider Trading Act, H.R. 7008, passed the House 232-198 on July 22. On Sept. 30 the Senate voted 53-47 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to it, seven votes short of the 60 needed, according to the Senate roll call. All 53 Republicans voted yes. All 45 Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them voted no. The bill remains on the Senate’s legislative calendar as Calendar No. 548, and the majority leader can bring it back.

What the bill does

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the House Administration Committee, introduced the bill in January. According to the Congressional Research Service summary of the committee-reported version, it would bar members, their spouses and dependent children from buying stocks in publicly traded companies and similar investments. They would have to post public notice 7 to 14 days before selling one. Widely held investment funds and certain trusts are exempt. Violations would carry a fee equal to the greater of $2,000 or 10% of the transaction’s value, plus any net gain, and a purchase made in violation would have to be sold. Members could not pay the fees with campaign money or official allowances.

The bill would not require members to sell stocks they already own. The version the House passed also carries a voter identification provision, according to CNBC’s account of the Senate vote.

Why it stalled

The two parties give different reasons for the Senate vote. As CNBC reported, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the bill a “theatrical farce” and the voter ID language a “poison pill.” In floor remarks on Sept. 29 he also objected that the bill lets members keep and sell the stocks they already own. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called it a half-measure: “If you wanted to get a stock ban done, you would put a stock ban on the floor.”

Republicans said Democrats had blocked a ban voters wanted. “EVERY Senate Democrat just joined 94% of House Democrats in voting AGAINST banning congressional stock trading,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., posted after the vote, CNBC reported. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, called the measures “commonsense, bipartisan bills.”

The House vote broke largely along party lines. According to the House Clerk’s roll call, all 218 Republicans voting backed the bill, along with 13 Democrats and Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, whom the Clerk lists as an independent. 198 Democrats voted no, and one did not vote. Just before passage, a Democratic motion by Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., to send the bill back to committee failed 211-218.

How the most active traders voted

The Inquisitor compared the roll call with its database of House periodic transaction reports filed from Jan. 1, 2025, through Oct. 24, 2026. Of the 30 sitting members who rank among the House’s top 25 traders by combined reported value or top 20 by number of trades, the vote followed party lines with two exceptions. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., whose filings list 514 joint transactions, voted for the bill. So did Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., whose filings list 191. Every other Democrat on those lists voted no, among them Nancy Pelosi of California, Gil Cisneros of California, Cleo Fields of Louisiana, Don Beyer of Virginia and April McClain Delaney of Maryland. Every Republican on the lists voted yes, among them Jefferson Shreve of Indiana, Darrell Issa of California, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Lisa McClain of Michigan and Chip Roy of Texas.

A member’s vote on this bill does not by itself show where that member stands on trading restrictions. Several Democrats on those lists who voted no cosponsor broader bans, according to Congress.gov. Suzan DelBene of Washington, April McClain Delaney, George Whitesides of California and Val Hoyle of Oregon cosponsor both H.R. 396 and H.R. 5106, which are described below. Don Beyer cosponsors H.R. 396. Julie Johnson of Texas and Ritchie Torres of New York cosponsor H.R. 5106.

The other bills

Five other trading-ban bills are pending, according to Congress.gov:

• S. 1498, the HONEST Act from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has been on the Senate calendar under general orders since Dec. 10, 2025, as Calendar No. 294. It has 5 cosponsors.
• H.R. 5106, the Restore Trust in Congress Act from Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has 145 cosponsors, 109 of them Democrats and 36 Republicans, the most of any of these bills. It has been in the House Administration Committee since Sept. 3, 2025.
• H.R. 396, the TRUST in Congress Act from Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., has 103 cosponsors, 84 Democrats and 19 Republicans. It was referred to House Administration on Jan. 14, 2025.
• S. 1879, the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act from Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has 20 cosponsors. It has been before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee since May 22, 2025.
• H.R. 1908, the End Congressional Stock Trading Act from Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., has 5 cosponsors. It has been before a House Agriculture subcommittee since March 28, 2025.

Any bill not enacted by the time the 119th Congress ends on Jan. 3 dies and would have to be reintroduced.

When the Senate returns

The Senate is holding only pro forma sessions until it returns for business at 3 p.m. on Nov. 9, according to the Senate Daily Press Gallery. Its first scheduled vote back is cloture on the permitting-reform vehicle, H.R. 2347. No floor time has been announced for H.R. 7008.

Comment

The Inquisitor is seeking comment on whether H.R. 7008 or another ban will get floor time before Jan. 3. Requests are going to the majority press staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to Rep. Bryan Steil’s House Administration Committee, and to the watchdog groups Issue One, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Project On Government Oversight. This story will be updated with any response.