Bipartisan House Stock Trading Ban Teed Up For Recess Return

Members of Congress and their spouses would be banned from trading stocks under a bipartisan plan set to be rolled out almost immediately after lawmakers return to Washington in September.

The proposed legislation, in its current form, would block members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks, a person with direct knowledge of the legislative text told Bloomberg Government. It would also impose a penalty on any violator to include the disgorgement of all profits made from a trade to the Treasury Department, in addition to a fine worth 10% of the volume of the trade.

Members who have supported the effort include Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who formed a working group on the issue earlier this year.

The proposed legislation would not extend to the executive branch after the suggestion provoked pushback from President Donald Trump. Trump said he would support a stock-trading ban, but lashed out against Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) for supporting legislation that would expand to the executive branch, arguing he was being used by Democrats.

In an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Roy floated the idea of amending the legislation to include banning the president and vice president from trading stocks.

The ban generated strong bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) both in favor.

In a separate effort, conservative hardliners Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) are trying to force a vote banning congressional stock trading when the House returns from recess.

Burchett told Bloomberg Government he wanted stronger penalties than the ones offered by the working group, with whom he was initially aligned. The Tennessee Republican also said he didn’t think a ban should extend to the executive branch.

“I like keeping things simple,” Burchett said.

Luna has been in talks with the White House on her efforts as more administration officials express support for moving legislation along. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month he would begin pushing for a ban. Luna said in a post on X Thursday that she’ll start the process of filing a discharge petition Friday to circumvent leaders and bring the bill to the floor.

Per House rules, Luna’s measure will need to sit in the Rules Committee for seven legislative days before lawmakers can start signing the petition. If a petition gets 218 public signatures, Luna can force a vote on the stock ban.

Johnson killed multiple discharge petitions already this year, including one by Luna to allow new parents to vote remotely. Luna left the House Freedom Caucus in protest after multiple members pressed Johnson to essentially turn off that workaround in an unrelated procedural move.

The exact text of the bill Luna wants to discharge wasn’t immediately clear, but it will likely resemble a previous bill by Burchett that would prohibit trading by lawmakers, their spouses, and any dependent children.