Every Senate Democrat on Wednesday voted against advancing the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would prohibit members of Congress from purchasing stocks. The Stop Insider Trading Act, introduced by Nebraska Republican Pete Ricketts, failed to overcome the 60-vote filibuster, as the vote fell along party lines, 53-47. The bill previously advanced through the House, with some Democrats joining Republicans to pass the bill.
The vote comes less than five weeks until the midterm elections, when Democrats are hoping to claim a majority of seats in both chambers of Congress as they face a more favorable environment driven by President Donald Trump's declining national approval rating. American trust in government remains historically low, with only 17 percent of Americans saying they trust Washington to do what is right always or most of the time in 2025, according to the Pew Research Center. Legislators from both parties have pushed bans on stock trading to address that declining trust but have struggled to reach a deal with broad support in Congress.
The legislation has drawn criticism from Democrats, who have argued that it does not go far enough and falls short of a true ban on stock trading, pointing to measures exempting the president and vice president while allowing lawmakers to keep stocks they already own. Democrats have also criticized Republicans for tying the bill to voter ID legislation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, criticized the bill during remarks on the floor of the Senate this week, saying that Republicans watered down a broader ban on stock trading.
He also said that Republicans “loaded it up with a poison-pill voter ID bill” that Senate Democrats do not support. Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, wrote in a post on X that the bill is a “sham.” “Instead of shutting down Congressional stock trades, it opens loopholes & has unrelated voter suppression language that’s already been rejected on a bipartisan basis,” he wrote. Republicans are casting the bill as a “common sense” measure.
President, but an important way to ensure that members of Congress are held to the standards that Americans should be able to expect of their representatives,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said during remarks on the Senate floor. Senator Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, wrote on X that he is “proud” to support the bill. Voter ID and stopping members of Congress from trading stocks are common sense measures,” he wrote.
The bill would prohibit members, spouses and dependent children from purchasing any new stocks in publicly traded companies, according to Ricketts’ office. It would require a public notice of at least 7 days but no more than 14 days in advance of any intended sales. It would establish a penalty of $2,000 or 10 percent of the investment value, according to the text of the bill.
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