Magaziner to Assume Leadership of Legislation to Ban Members of Congress from Trading Stocks
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02) announced that he will be the lead sponsor in the 119th Congress of the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act, a bill that would effectively ban Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading individual stocks, following the retirement of Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), who has championed this legislation with the bill’s co-lead Representative Chip Roy (R-TX-21) since 2020.
The Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act would reduce opportunities for insider trading by requiring Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress. This will prevent Members of Congress from using their positions and access to confidential information to unethically inform investment decisions or influence the value of their existing investments.
“Our job is to serve the American people, not ourselves — and banning Members of Congress from trading stocks is a crucial step toward restoring accountability in Congress,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner. “I am thankful for Representative Abigail Spanberger’s leadership on this bipartisan bill, and look forward to leading this effort in the 119th Congress alongside Representative Chip Roy to deliver this much needed reform.”
“As Members of Congress, we receive sensitive briefings and take votes that move markets, making it crucial that we do not use these privileges for personal financial gain. That is why I’ve been proud to lead the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act to ban lawmakers — as well as their spouses and dependent children — from trading, selling, or buying individual stocks while in office,” said Spanberger. “Even the perception of impropriety erodes public trust, and Americans deserve to have confidence in their elected representatives. I am glad that Rep. Magaziner will be joining Rep. Roy in advancing this important effort next Congress.”
“The American people should have faith that Congress is at work for the good of the country, not for their own bank accounts. For years I have been working to address the problem of stock trading in Congress, first introducing the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act with Rep. Spanberger back in 2020. Now that Abigail is retiring, I am looking forward to working with Rep. Magaziner (D-RI) to get this commonsense legislation across the finish line,” said Representative Chip Roy.
The TRUST in Congress Act was the first legislation that Rep. Magaziner co-sponsored as a Member of Congress in January 2023, joining 79 of his Democratic and Republican colleagues.
The TRUST in Congress Act will:
Require all Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust within 90 days after the enactment of this legislation. New Members of Congress, and their spouses and dependent children, would be required to place covered investments into a qualified blind trust within 90 days of assuming office. Affected individuals can remove assets from the blind trust 180 days after the Member leaves Congress.
Require all Members to either 1) certify to the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate that they have established a blind trust to include covered investments or 2) certify to the Clerk or the Secretary that they do not own any covered investments. The status of these certifications would be made publicly available by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.
The requirement would apply to the following types of investments: a security (including, but not limited to stocks and bonds), commodity, future, or any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means such as the use of a derivative.
This legislation was originally introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Chip Roy in July 2020, andreintroduced in January 2021 and 2023.
The bipartisan legislation is cosponsored by 79 Members of Congress, including Representatives Seth Magaziner, Chip Roy, Emanuel Cleaver, Michael Cloud, Joe Courtney, Angie Craig, Jason Crow, Madeleine Dean, Brian K. Fitzpatrick, Matt Gaetz, Jared Golden, Josh Gottheimer, Raúl Grijalva, Chrissy Houlahan, Dusty Johnson, Daniel Kildee, Derek Kilmer, Young Kim, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Betty McCollum, Grace Meng, Jerrold Nadler, Chris Pappas, Marie Glusenkamp Perez, Scott Perry, Dean Phillips, Chellie Pingree, Katie Porter, Mary Gay Scanlon, Adam Schiff, Pete Sessions, Elissa Slotkin, Haley Stevens, Dina Titus, Paul Tonko, Susan Wild, Nikema Williams, Wiley Nickel, Donald S. Beyer, Jr., Joe Neguse, Ruben Gallego, Greg Stanton, Jeff Jackson, Mike Levin, Robert Garcia, Val Hoyle, Marcus Molinaro, Ro Khanna, Elijah Crane, Alma Adams, Suzan DelBene, Gregory Murphy, Juan Ciscomani, Zachary Nunn, Brittany Pettersen, Nancy Mace, William R. Keating, John Joyce, Christopher Deluzio, Gabe Vasquez, Mark Pocan, Frank Mrvan, Yadira Caraveo, Sharice Davids, Donald Davis, Greg Casar, Eric Sorensen, Jared Huffman, Barbara Lee, David Trone, Cory Mills, Mark DeSaulnier, Michael Lawler, Colin Allred, Thomas Kean, Andrea Salinas, Greg Landsman, Mikie Sherrill and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.
The TRUST in Congress Act is endorsed by several key advocacy and government accountability organizations across the political spectrum, including the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), National Taxpayers Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, Campaign Legal Center, Taxpayers for Common Sense, FreedomWorks, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Protect Democracy, Americans for Prosperity, Government Accountability Project, Issue One, PEER, Democracy12, Fix the Court, and ECU Action Fund.
The full bill text can be found here.