Magaziner, Bipartisan Colleagues Take House Floor to Call for Ban on Congressional Stock Trading
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (RI-02) and more than a dozen colleagues from both parties took to the House floor Tuesday evening to call for an immediate vote to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
Magaziner is the lead sponsor of the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act, the most widely supported bipartisan bill in Congress aimed at ending insider trading by lawmakers. He and a coalition of Democrats and Republicans urged Congressional leadership to bring to a vote to confront the issue as soon as possible.
Their call to action came the same day that Speaker Mike Johnson indicated his support for a stock trading ban. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries recently endorsed the idea as well, marking the first time a Congressional leader in either party publicly supported a ban and signaling new momentum for the issue.
“When people elect us to office, they should be able to trust that their members of Congress are acting in the best interest of the country, not the best interest of their own personal finances. And when members of Congress are able to trade off of our position, it damages the integrity of this institution and of our entire democracy,” said Magaziner during his opening remarks.
Magaziner was joined by: Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Mike Levin (CA-49), Tim Burchett (TN-02), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08) Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Cory Mills (FL-07), Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05), Mark Alford (MO-04), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Young Kim (CA-40), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03).
A clip of Magaziner’s opening remarks is available here. A full recording of the Special Order Hour is available here.
BACKGROUND
Magaziner and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the TRUST in Congress Act to restore public confidence in government and reduce the potential for insider trading. The bill would require members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to either divest from individual stock holdings or place their assets in a qualified blind trust during their time in office.
Public polling shows overwhelming bipartisan support for the measure. A national survey conducted by Navigator Research found that 89% of Democrats, 92% of Republicans, and 90% of independents support banning congressional stock trading.