The TRUST in Congress Act would mandate members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependent children, to place certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust throughout their tenure in Congress.
Led by U.S. Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Chip Roy of Texas, and 73 Democrats and Republicans since its reintroduction in January 2023, the legislation aims to effectively prohibit them from trading individual stocks.
Yesterday, lawmakers penned a letter urging U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to bring the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act to a vote.
“Americans from all political perspectives and regions are weary of headlines suggesting that lawmakers profit from privileged information. For over four years, I’ve spearheaded efforts to eliminate any hint of impropriety by restricting lawmakers’ ability to engage in stock market activities — and I’ve been grateful for the support of Congressman Golden, Congressman Fitzpatrick, and many colleagues from both sides of the aisle,” Spanberger stated. “As we approach the final stretch of the 118th Congress, I urge Speaker Johnson to build on our bipartisan momentum and introduce legislation to the U.S. House floor that bars Members of Congress from trading individual stocks. Our focus should be on serving the people, not on personal stock portfolios.”
Lawmakers highlighted robust bipartisan public backing for the prohibition on Congressional stock trading. They also reminded U.S. House leadership of their prior commitment to bring such legislation to a vote.
“Recent investigations have revealed that one in seven members breached the STOCK Act during the 117th Congress, with 97 members trading stocks in companies affected by their committee assignments between 2019 and 2021, outperforming the S&P 500 by 17.5 percent in 2022. It’s clear that additional measures are necessary to curb this behavior, which not only lacks ethics but also erodes public confidence in our democratic institutions,” the lawmakers wrote. “Fortunately, several bipartisan bills have been introduced in the House to prevent members from owning or trading stocks. Our constituents across the political spectrum support these efforts, with recent polls showing that 86 percent of Americans — including 87 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Democrats, and 81 percent of Independents — endorse prohibiting members of Congress and their families from trading stocks.”
The lawmakers noted that House leadership committed nearly two years ago to vote on legislation reforming stock trading practices for members of Congress.
“In today’s hyper-partisan political climate, with historically low congressional approval ratings, this bipartisan and commonsense change underscores that we come to Washington to represent our constituents, not to advance our financial interests.”
Today, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced new legislation to ban members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from trading individual stocks.
“During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans nationwide were inundated with reports of members of Congress profiting from suspiciously timed trades. Since then, I’ve led a bipartisan effort to eliminate lawmakers’ ability to leverage their positions for personal gain. Support for banning congressional stock trading has reached unprecedented levels. Over 70 lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum have endorsed my legislation — and momentum continues to build,” Spanberger responded to the Senate’s legislation.
She expressed optimism that “bipartisan momentum will propel us toward enacting this long-overdue, much-needed reform. It’s time for Speaker Johnson to fulfill his role and bring bipartisan legislation before the U.S. House to finally achieve this goal.”