The bipartisan push for a congressional stock trading ban is gaining steam, but lawmakers have yet to settle on the details of a proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The House Administration Committee on Wednesday held a hearing<\/u><\/a> on the matter, putting an issue that has been percolating on Capitol Hill for months back in the spotlight following a government shutdown that derailed much congressional action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers on the panel debated how to strengthen and reform the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law passed in 2012 that prohibits members of Congress and federal employees from using nonpublic information for private profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan Savickas, vice president of policy and government affairs at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said during the hearing that the framework in the law \u201chas proved sorely lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe STOCK Act <\/strong>does not prevent conflicted trading by members of Congress but merely requires them to report when and if they do so. Even then, many members report after the mandated time periods with little to no repercussions thus far. The American people are left with almost no recourse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers also aired grievances, arguing that there need to be updates on the reporting and enforcement requirements in the STOCK Act, or a separate ban altogether on members owning individual stock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though proposals to implement such a ban have come to the forefront at various points, they\u2019ve mainly been stalled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In September, for instance, Reps. Chip Roy\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Texas) and Seth Magaziner\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-R.I.) introduced a bill that would prohibit lawmakers, their spouses, dependent children and trustees from \u201cowning, buying or selling individual stocks, securities, commodities, or futures,\u201d with a few exceptions, according to a press release<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bill would also require current<\/u><\/a> members of Congress to \u201cdivest from all covered assets at fair market value\u201d within 180 days and incoming members to do so within 90 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A diverse coalition of House Democrats and Republicans, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-N.Y.), Anna Paulina Luna\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Fla.), Tim Burchett\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Tenn.), Pramila Jayapal\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-Wash.) and Brian Fitzpatrick\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Pa.), have backed the bill. It was referred to the House Administration Committee, but no further action has been taken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But both lawmakers and outside groups have been putting pressure on House leadership and the House Administration Committee to consider the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe American people have made it clear that hearings alone are not enough. We have a strong, enforceable, bipartisan bill to ban stock trading once and for all, and we need Speaker Johnson to bring it to the floor immediately for a vote,\u201d Magaziner wrote in a statement<\/u><\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, along with nine other organizations, also wrote a letter to<\/u><\/a> House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Wis.) and ranking member Joe Morelle\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-N.Y.) urging the panel to hold a meeting to consider the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luna told The Hill she plans to introduce a discharge petition aimed at forcing floor action on the bill after the House returns from Thanksgiving break, if the House committee doesn\u2019t announce it is taking action on it by Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of self-interested narcissists \u2026 running Washington that want to get rich while the American people suffer, and that\u2019s why you\u2019re seeing such strong opposition against this. So, I\u2019m calling out the bulls\u2014, and I really don\u2019t care who I piss off,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But even if the bill gets through the House, it still must pass the Senate. Whether lawmakers in the upper chamber will support the measure is uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll go to the president and [get] signed into law of any consequence. We might pass something, might prove me wrong, and something passes, but I just don\u2019t see it. I don\u2019t see it,\u201d said Burchett, acknowledging the legislative hurdles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n House Democrats said during the hearing on Wednesday that they\u2019d want any solution on the issue to extend to the executive and judicial branches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMembers of Congress, the Trump administration and their relatives should not have a blank check to use privileged information to cash in while working families continue to struggle,\u201d Rep. Norma Torres\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-Calif.) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morelle told The Hill in a statement that he supports a stock trading ban for members of Congress, the president, the vice president and the Supreme Court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not something that the White House likely will be in favor of, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Trump attacked Sen. Josh Hawley\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Mo.) in July after Hawley joined Democrats to advance legislation<\/u><\/a> banning members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from holding, buying or selling stock. The bill would have only applied to future administrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Burchett said that efforts to include the executive and judicial branches in a ban will \u201ckill\u201d the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s not going to pass. \u2026 Let\u2019s get our foot in the door and let\u2019s work it from there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the uncertain future of the issue, lawmakers on both sides are pushing for progress on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAmerican people do not trust Congress because we are crooked as a dog\u2019s leg, and they don\u2019t trust us for good reason,\u201d Burchett said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Morelle said in the statement, \u201cToday\u2019s hearing was an important step in elevating the important issues we need to consider when developing such a ban. The cost of this corruption is hurting everyday Americans and we must act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n