By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-30 21:02:02 | Updated at 2026-09-30 21:52:49
59 minutes ago
The Senate blocked a House-passed bill on Sept. 30 that would have limited members of Congress from trading stocks.
The tally was 53–47, as Senate Democrats voted against the measure, preventing it from getting the necessary 60 votes to advance.
Democrats objected to the legislation because the president was not covered under the bill, and it required voters to show photo identification when voting. The failed procedural vote leaves a longstanding issue in Congress unresolved.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), passed the House in July. It would have allowed members to hold onto stocks they currently own and therefore not have to sell them.
A member of Congress would have had between seven and 14 days to file a public notice of intent to sell with the secretary of the Senate or the clerk of the House of Representatives, depending on which chamber he is in, when he, his spouse, or his dependent sells a covered investment.
The bill would not have applied to an interest in a widely held investment fund or certain investments held in a trust, but it would have pertained to investments such as a security issued by a publicly traded company.
If an individual covered under the legislation trades stocks, a fee would have applied. If the individual purchased a covered investment, he would have been required to sell that investment.
Senate Republicans supported the bill, which was led in the Senate by Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.). Ricketts is facing a tough reelection battle in November.
“Members of Congress using information not available to the public in order to profit from buying and selling stocks harms everyday Americans’ trust in government,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said in a statement.“This legislation will bring greater transparency and accountability to Washington for the American people, and I’m grateful to Senator Ricketts for leading this effort.”
In a speech on the Senate floor on Sept. 30, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the bill provided transparency and included “real penalties.” He said the photo ID provision “has the overwhelming support of the American people.”
On the other hand, Senate Democrats panned the legislation, saying it falls short.
“If Senate Republicans truly cared about banning stock trading in Congress, they wouldn’t have let the House Republicans GOP water down the ban,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Sept. 29.
“The bill Republicans are offering today is swiss-cheese legislating, creating loophole after loophole after loophole,” he continued. “And it’s a step backwards to solving this critical problem.”
Schumer cited the president not being one of the individuals the bill would apply to.
“If Senate Republicans cared about reining in stock trading, they would advance a bill that prohibits the president from trading stocks—we know that [Donald] Trump has traded more stocks than all of Congress combined,” he said. “But this bill does no such thing.”
The Senate Democratic leader called the photo ID provision “a poison pill.”
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told The Epoch Times that Republicans combining the stock trading bill with a voter ID provision is “just a big accident.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was blunt, telling The Epoch Times that the bill is “nothing but a political stunt.”
Trump supported the bill.
“Most Americans are in favor of banning the trading of individual stocks by Members of Congress, and President Trump has called for a stock trading ban to be passed without delay,” the White House said in a July 22 statement on administration policy.
Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
