Along with US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), he says he is working with members of the lawmakers at a press conference with the Vipatisan Group. On September 3, 2025, Capitol Hill stock trading in Washington, DC, USA.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
The ban on Congressional members and their families gained new momentum after bipartisan groups of Congress announced on Wednesday that they had reached an agreement on a new bill by trading or holding shares.
The Restore Trust in Congress Act combines several different proposals into one vehicle. Supporters say it will focus on the discussion and lead to passing.
One of the bill’s main sponsors, Dr. Seth Magazine, said the fact that members of Congress are allowed to trade and own individual shares “people are allowed to continue for a long time because this is engrossed in the average person.”
“We have reached a turning point where pressure from outside the building has become too big for leadership to deny,” he said at a press conference Wednesday in Congress.
Supporters of the bill extend across the political spectrum. They include hard-working conservative Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who lead the bill. A moderate Republican, like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Pramila Jayapal in Washington and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York
The new bill would ban Congress members, their spouses and dependent children. You own, buy or trade individual stocks or other prohibited assets during your tenure, even if those assets are held by the Blind Trust.
They also need to sell shares, options, futures and goods that lawmakers own immediately after their tenure. Members who violate the ban must pay a fee equal to 10% of the value of the target investment and must remove profits from that investment.
The measure, which was advanced by the committee in July, rarely gets floor votes after being criticised by President Donald Trump.
House speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. has expressed general support for the ban in the past, but there are no specific bills. R-FLA MP Anna Paulina Luna said at a press conference Wednesday that if leadership doesn’t bring the bill to the floor by the end of the month, she will force her to vote for it.
Despite growing momentum in favour of the ban, there is still important opposition to it. The same opposition that has hampered past attempts to enact Congress’s stock trading restrictions beyond what is included in the Stock Act of 2012.
R-Wisc. Sen. Ron Johnson of the lawmakers at the July hearing, one of the lawmakers argued that the measure would be a barrier to prevent business owners and executives from running for office.
“There are too many career politicians. There aren’t enough people who have experience in the private sector,” Johnson said. “This law will be very discouraging to the private sector people who come and serve here.”
But supporters of the ban said those who want to serve must place the interests of the nation before them.
“If you want to trade stock, I’ll go to Wall Street,” Luna said Wednesday. “Please don’t go to Congress.”
