In Historic First, Committee Advances Peters, Merkley, Hawley, Ossoff and Rosen Bipartisan Legislation to Ban Member Stock Trading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bipartisan legislation, negotiated by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and built off of Merkley’s ETHICS Act, to ban Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependents from holding, buying, or selling stocks has advanced out of committee. This is the first time a Senate Committee has marked up legislation barring stock trading by Members of Congress. The bipartisan modified legislation, which was sponsored in committee by Peters, Hawley, Ossoff and U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), would immediately ban Members of Congress from buying stocks and other covered investments and prohibit members from selling stocks 90 days after enactment. The bipartisan legislation passed by the committee also requires Members of Congress, the President and the Vice President to divest from all covered investments, starting in 2027. The bill was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where Peters serves as Chair. It now moves to the full Senate for consideration.    

“The people we represent deserve to have complete confidence that their federal elected officials are working in Americans’ best interests, and not their own personal financial interests,” said Senator Peters. “By passing this legislation out of committee with bipartisan support, we have taken a monumental step towards getting this bill one step closer to becoming law and finally barring bad actors from taking advantage of their positions for their own financial gain. I’m grateful to Senators Merkley, Hawley, Ossoff, and Rosen for their hard work to advance this commonsense legislation that will help restore Americans’ faith that Congress is always working on their behalf.” 

“Members of Congress should serve the people, not their portfolios. For the first time, a Senate committee considered and passed legislation to ban Congressional stock trading, a practice that appears deeply corrupt to the American people and erodes public respect for our government institutions. There should be no question about whether a lawmaker is voting on or writing legislation in the best interests of their constituents or the best interests of their investments,” said Senator Merkley, the ETHICS Act lead sponsor. “More than 85 percent of Democrats and Republicans support it, and now banning Congressional stock trading has the momentum it needs to become law. I thank my colleagues for passing this important bill out of committee and am pushing to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as possible.” 

“Members of Congress should not be here to turn a profit on the people’s time. They should certainly not be trading or owning individual stocks, especially not in companies they oversee through their government work. This bill takes a giant step forward to that end, and I’m proud that it has passed through Senator Peters’ committee,” said Senator Hawley. 

“This is a historic moment in efforts to reform the ethics laws that govern Congress. Georgians overwhelmingly agree that Members of Congress should not be playing the stock market while we legislate and while we have access to confidential and privileged information,” said Senator Ossoff. “This is long overdue and necessary, and today we made historic progress passing this bipartisan bill out of Committee. I appreciate Chairman Peters, Senator Hawley, Senator Rosen, and Senator Merkley for their collaborative work on this bill.” 

“Members of Congress must serve their constituents and the public interest, not take advantage of information gained through their official duties to enrich themselves through corrupt stock trading,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m proud to have helped pass this commonsense, bipartisan legislation out of committee to clean up Washington and prevent Members of Congress from being able to abuse their position for personal financial gain. I’ll continue working to strengthen congressional ethics, hold politicians accountable, and increase government transparency for Nevadans.” 

The modified bipartisan ETHICS Act as passed by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee would: 

• Ban Members of Congress, the President, and Vice President from buying and selling covered assets almost immediately after enactment. Covered assets include securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts, and other comparable holdings. 
• Require elected officials, their spouses, and dependent children to divest covered assets beginning in 2027. 
• Increase penalties for violations of STOCK Act disclosure requirements from $200 to $500. 

To see the text of the modified bipartisan ETHICS Act as passed by the committee, click here. 

The modified bipartisan legislation is supported by Public Citizen, Project on Government Oversight, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Campaign Legal Center, 20/20 Vision, Stand Up America, Issue One, P Street, Accountable.US., Indivisible, MoveOn, and National Taxpayers Union.  

Below are statements in support of the bipartisan modified legislation: 

“Today’s markup is an historic step towards curbing opportunities for stock market abuse and restoring trust in our government. This legislative achievement was possible only through commendable bipartisan cooperation between key members of the Senate from both sides of the aisle. After today’s committee vote, Congress should immediately move forward with the bill to make the ETHICS Act law,” said Craig Holman, Ph.D., Public Citizen. 

“The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) applauds the Committee for advancing its ban on stock trading in Congress. The bipartisan ETHICS Act is an essential step to strengthening the American people's confidence in the integrity of their government. We appreciate the leadership of Senator Merkley, Senator Peters, Senator Hawley, and Senator Ossoff on this issue and urge a full Senate floor vote on this critical legislation,” said Faith Williams, Director of Effective and Accountable Government at POGO. 

“The ETHICS Act will be an important step to restore Americans' faith that members of Congress are working in the people's interest, not to further their own financial interests,” said Noah Bookbinder, President of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “It is the result of years of policy development and cooperation between dozens of senators and representatives on both sides of the aisle, civil society groups, and numerous nonpartisan experts. These years of discussion and collaboration have resulted in a strong, comprehensive, and bipartisan bill that meets each of CREW's critical policy requirements: prohibiting members of Congress from owning or trading any individual stocks or other similar financial assets, applying to members’ spouses and dependent children and including a clear enforcement mechanism. These policies are overwhelmingly popular across partisan lines, and the people are calling on Congress to act. CREW strongly endorses the ETHICS Act and supports Sens. Peters, Merkley, Hawley, and Ossoff's effort to advance the bill through committee markup and to the floor as expeditiously as possible.” 

“Voters have a right to know if federal elected officials are acting in the best interests of their constituents, or for their own financial gain,” said Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “By virtue of their positions, members of Congress, the president and the vice President are oftentimes privy to information that is unavailable to the general public. Allowing them to engage in stock trading risks fostering an environment where conflicts of interest among lawmakers lead to the deterioration of public trust. It is essential that the U.S. Senate pass this bill.” 

“Elected representatives in Washington should be focused on serving their constituents, not boosting their stock portfolios. The updated framework of the ETHICS Act would address the inherent conflict of interest that exists when lawmakers own and trade stocks that their decisions can influence the value of, while having access to sensitive non-public information. Prohibiting the President, Vice President and Members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependent children, from actively trading stock while in office is a commonsense fix that Americans across party lines broadly support. We applaud HSGAC Chair Peters, Senator Merkley, Senator Hawley, and Senator Ossoff for their decisive leadership and call on the Congress to pass this bipartisan proposal without delay,” said 20/20 Vision. 

“Members of Congress take votes every day that affect the stock market. Public servants owning and trading stocks in the companies they are charged with regulating presents a massive opportunity for corruption and abuse. The American people deserve a Congress that puts their needs – not members’ personal financial interests – first,” said Emma Lydon, Managing Director of P Street. “The markup of the ETHICS Act is a victory for the American people and an opportunity to restore trust in our government. This is the culmination of years of work from Senators, grassroots organizations, the press, and the public. The Senate should move quickly to pass this common sense legislation.” 

“When members of Congress trade stocks while receiving privileged information during hearings and closed-door briefings, they create the appearance of corruption and erode Americans' confidence. Banning members from trading stocks while in office is a pragmatic and commonsense reform that Republicans and Democrats alike should get behind. The public must feel certain that their elected representatives are working for their best interests, not their own personal portfolios,” said Nick Penniman, Issue One's Founder and CEO. “This bipartisan proposal will help restore public trust in Congress. It's time for our leaders to work together and pass this bill into law.” 

“It's common sense. The fewer opportunities members of Congress have to use their influence to game the stock market for personal and family gain, the less it will happen. The ETHICS Act will go a long way towards preventing lawmaker self-dealing on Wall Street and restoring public trust in government,” said Accountable.US' Liz Zelnick. 

“The bipartisan legislative accomplishments of the Democratically-run Senate continue. Current law does little to actually stop members of Congress from engaging in illegal insider trading, using information they learn as our representatives for personal financial gain. This extraordinary ethical failure erodes the public’s trust in Congress and undermines our democracy,” said Brett Edkins, Managing Director of Policy & Political Affairs, Stand Up America. “We applaud Chair Peters, Senator Merkley, and members of the committee for advancing the ETHICS Act. This bill would prevent corruption and ensure that our elected officials act in the best interest of their constituents. We urge Leader Schumer to bring this critical legislation up for a vote.” 

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