Kelly, Ossoff Reintroduce Congressional Stock Trading Ban
Kelly, Ossoff continue leading push to ban stock trading by members of Congress
Bill requires members of Congress & their families to place stock portfolios in blind trusts or divest holdings
86% of Americans support banning stock trading by members of Congress
Today, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) introduced their Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, which will require all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to place their stocks into a qualified blind trust or divest the holding—ensuring they cannot use inside information to influence stock trades and make a profit.
The American people overwhelmingly support this policy, with 86% saying they back the measure, including 88% of Democrats, 87% of Republicans, and 81% of Independents.
“As Americans work hard to keep up with rising costs, the last thing they should have to worry about is whether their elected representatives are using inside information to make a quick buck. This isn’t rocket science: the only way to stop insider trading in Congress is to stop members of Congress from trading stocks. Period. Fixing this would go a long way toward restoring trust—and fixing what’s broken in Washington,” said Kelly.
“Members of Congress should not be playing the stock market while we make Federal policy and have extraordinary access to confidential information,” said Ossoff. “Stock trading by members of Congress massively erodes public confidence in Congress and creates a serious appearance of impropriety, which is why we should ban stock trading by members of Congress altogether.”
The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Michael Bennet (D-CO).
“The American people send their elected representatives to Washington to work on their behalf, not to turn a profit for themselves. Right now, there are no rules against members using their position to pad their pockets by buying and selling stocks,” said Baldwin. “This bill puts up commonsense guardrails so our constituents can trust we are working on their behalf, not abusing our offices to enrich ourselves and our families.”
“As Donald Trump continues to corruptly enrich himself and his billionaire friends through luxury jets from foreign powers, suspicious market manipulation and shady cryptocurrency scams, Congress must lead by example to help restore trust and integrity in government,” said Duckworth. “That is why I’m proud to help reintroduce the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act to ensure every Member of Congress complies with this commonsense, ethical best practice.”
“Members of Congress have one job and that’s to help people, not enrich ourselves through stock trades,” said Schatz. “No federal elected official should be picking stocks while making policy. It’s that simple.”
“Banning members of Congress from trading stocks is an important step towards ensuring that public officials are voting based on the best interests of the people they represent as opposed to their own financial interests,” said Reverend Warnock. “With the unabashed, unembarrassed corruption we are seeing out of this White House, it’s more important than ever that we take steps to ensure integrity in every branch of government.”
“Members of Congress should spend their time in Washington representing the American people – not worrying about their own bottom line,” said Bennet. “This common-sense legislation would go a long way toward restoring the American people’s faith in our government.”
Kelly is the only member of Congress to take the following three transparency and accountability steps: place his assets in Qualified Blind Trusts, release his official Senate schedule, and not take Corporate PAC contributions to his campaign.
Ossoff, a former investigative journalist whose company exposed corruption around the world, fulfilled his pledge to put his own stock portfolio in a blind trust in 2021.
Kelly and Ossoff are two of only a handful of senators who have placed their portfolios in qualified blind trusts.
Click here to read the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act.
