Fox Business: Bipartisan team reintroduces bill that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks

FOX BUSINESS, PAUL BEST

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., said Thursday that she will reintroduce a bill cosponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks.

The Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act, which was originally proposed in 2020, would require lawmakers to place certain investments in a blind trust.

Spanberger has argued that the bill would prevent insider trading and restore Americans’ confidence in their elected officials.

“By creating a firewall between Members of Congress and their investments, this bill would prevent Members of Congress from profiting off their influence and access to information on Capitol Hill,” Spanberger previously said in a statement.

Sens. Jon Ossof, D-Ga., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act last year, which is based on the TRUST in Congress Act.

It’s unclear how much support the TRUST in Congress Act will have in the new Congress.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, who was Speaker of the House when the bill was first introduced, said in December 2021 that the U.S. is “a free market economy” and lawmakers should “be able to participate in that.”

Pelosi, whose husband’s stock trades have come under scrutiny from watchdogs and the media, later voiced her support for the measure, but said it should include the judicial branch and be implemented across the federal government.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was considering a stock trading ban last year when he was minority leader, FOX Business previously reported.

McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Under the STOCK Act, passed in 2012, lawmakers are required to report stock trades to Congress within 45 days.