Bill introduced to ban Congress members from stock trading.

A group of bipartisan members of Congress have introduced a bill that would prohibit members from trading stocks. This is a significant move towards restoring faith in government and ensuring that members of Congress are not using their positions for personal financial gain.

The Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act

The bill, known as the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act, would restrict trading and ownership of certain financial instruments by members of Congress and their spouses and dependents. This includes securities, security futures, commodities, and any economic interest acquired through synthetic means. However, the bill would not prohibit members of Congress from trading widely held investment funds registered as a management company under the Investment Company Act, a U.S. Treasury bill, note, or bond, a State or local government bond, or any investment under the Thrift Savings Plan.

Compliance Under the Act

To be in compliance under the act, members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependents would have to divest their investments by selling or placing them in an acceptable blind trust. Those who acquire investments forbidden under the act, aside from purchasing them, after enactment would have 90 days from acquisition to sell the investment. The bill would give members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependents 90 days from enactment of the legislation to divest investments not allowed under the act by either selling them or putting them in a blind trust.

Approval of Blind Trusts

Qualifying blind trusts would need to be approved by the relevant congressional ethics offices. Were the members of Congress or others who are covered under the act to get approval, they would need to divest the trust no later than six months after setting up the trust. Additionally, those under the act would have to certify to the applicable supervising ethics office on an annual basis that the trustee has not provided any information on the trust’s assets or transactions to the applicable covered individual and may not have a close personal or business relationship with the applicable covered individual.

Bipartisan Support

Members of Congress from different factions have united on the issue of banning members, their spouses, and their dependents from stock trading. “The fact that members of the Progressive Caucus, the Freedom Caucus, and the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, reflecting the entirety of the political spectrum, can find common ground on key issues like this should send a powerful message to America,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a member of the Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Fitzpatrick, a member of the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, have come together to introduce this bill. It is a significant step towards ensuring that members of Congress are held to the highest ethical standards and that the public can have faith in their elected officials.