The US Capitol at sunset in Washington, DC, US on December 23, 2025.
Tyrone Siu | reuters
Lawmakers could face restrictions on buying new stocks under the bill, which received its first vote on Wednesday.
But obstacles remain, including opposition from most Democrats who say the bill doesn’t do enough to prevent insider trading among lawmakers.
The bill’s main supporter, Rep. Brian Still, R-Wis., is chairman of the House Administration Committee, which is expected to vote on and adopt the measure on Wednesday.
“Your member of Congress should not be day trading stocks,” Still said in an interview with CNBC. “You want to day trade? There’s a place for that and it’s called Wall Street.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told CNBC that if the bill is approved by committee, he will bring it to the House floor for a vote. It is not clear whether the bill will be passed in the full House or not. House Democratic leadership has not yet considered the bill, and members are expected to offer amendments during Wednesday’s markup to strengthen the bill.
Still’s bill is a watered-down version of previous efforts to ban insider trading among lawmakers. The measure would allow members to keep the stock they owned if elected. Members may sell stocks provided they give public notice seven days before the sale. Lawmakers will be able to buy and sell commodities, futures and diversified funds, and can use stock dividends to buy more shares of their stock.
Rep. Brian Still, R-Wis., leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | getty images
Steele’s bill would also increase fees for violations, increasing the fine to $2,000 or 10% of the value of the transaction, whichever is greater, or the net profit from the transaction.
The top Democrat on the House Administration Committee is Rep. Joe Morrell, D-N.Y. Called the bill a “quarter measure”.
“This is a way to reassure people that we have resolved this issue,” he told CNBC during an interview at the Capitol. “There are lots of ways to get around this. It essentially says, if you have large assets, and you come to Congress, you can continue to have large assets. And that’s not what we want.”
Steele dismissed concerns that this legislation did not advance as far as others, saying that deeming any bill “not good enough” will not make progress on the issue.
He said, “It’s what I call the Goldilocks argument. The porridge is too cold. The porridge is too hot.” “This is an opportunity to say yes or no. Do you believe that your member of Congress should trade stocks while in elected office?”
The Democrats are coming up with their own plans. Morrell said he and Representative Seth Magaziner, D.R.I. Intends to file a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill that would bar not only members of Congress from stock trading, but also the Speaker and Vice President.
