Today legislation negotiated by U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) passed out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) to ban stock ownership and trading for sitting members of Congress.
Earlier this month Senators Hawley, Ossoff, Merkley, and Chairman Peters negotiated the landmark bipartisan agreement. This is the first time a bill banning stock ownership has passed out of committee.
“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.
The new bipartisan agreement would:
- Immediately ban members of Congress, the President, and Vice President from buying and selling covered assets. 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. There is no blind trust loophole.
- Increase penalties for violations of STOCK Act disclosure requirements from $200 to $500.
Senator Hawley has been fighting to stop members of Congress from trading stocks. He has previously introduced the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act, the Eliminating Executive Branch Insider Trading Act, and the Ban Stock Trading for Government Officials Act.