Congressman Krishnamoorthi Leads Bipartisan Coalition in Introducing ETHICS Act to Ban Congressional Stock Trading

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) partnered with his bipartisan colleagues to reintroduce the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, landmark bipartisan legislation to prohibit Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks, securities, commodities, or futures. Joining the congressman in introducing the bill were Reps. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Josh Riley (D-NY), and Jen Kiggans (R-VA).

“When Members of Congress hold financial assets that stand to be affected by their own policy decisions, it creates not just the appearance, but often the reality, of a conflict of interest,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “The ETHICS Act is the most comprehensive reform ever proposed to eliminate those conflicts and restore Americans’ trust that their elected representatives are working for the public good, not personal gain.”

“The American people need to know that when their elected officials are making decisions, they’re doing so based on what’s best for the country, not what’s best for their own stock portfolios,” Congressman Cloud said. “The ETHICS Act brings long-overdue reform that bans Members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks. Reforms like this help shift the focus back to where it belongs—the American people.”

“Upstate New York knows what it’s like to be sold out by greed on Wall Street and corruption in our politics,” Congressman Riley said. “That’s why I want to ban corporate PAC money from influencing our elections, impose term limits, and crack down on self-dealing in Congress. I’m proud to introduce the ETHICS Act alongside a bipartisan group of colleagues to ban Members from trading stocks. If you’re in Congress, you should focus on serving the people, not yourself.”

“When it comes to owning and trading stocks, Members of Congress must be above reproach,” Congresswoman Kiggans said. “The ETHICS Act will ensure no Member of Congress can use their power and position to enrich themselves. When more and more Americans are losing trust in our institutions, including Congress, this bipartisan bill is one way we can begin to restore that trust.”

According to the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, before the stock market was shaken by the onset of the global pandemic, dozens of House and Senate members made over a thousand financial transactions after receiving closed-door briefings. In 2022, Members of Congress made more than 12,700 individual trades, with dozens of members making above-average gains as Wall Street saw its worst year since 2008. A 2022 New York Times investigation reported a fifth of all lawmakers trading in companies directly related to their work on a congressional committee. Even in a divided political climate, polling consistently shows that 70 percent of voters support banning members of Congress from holding individual stocks, including majorities of Democratic, Independent, and Republican voters.

The ETHICS Act would bar members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks, securities, commodities, or futures. Lawmakers often have advance notice of investigations, hearings, and legislation that can impact stock prices or can move markets by supporting or enacting policy changes that affect specific companies or industries. The legislation gives several options to members of Congress who own covered assets, including divesting, diversifying into allowable assets, such as mutual funds, or placing assets into a Qualified Blind Trust (QBT). The ETHICS Act addresses concerns about Qualified Blind Trusts not being truly blind with new, enhanced provisions requiring divestiture of assets that go into the Qualified Blind Trust. The ETHICS Act strengthens congressional ethics, bans conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest, and increases transparency in Congress.

The ETHICS Act includes strong penalties with enforcement by respective Congressional Ethics Offices. If Members or their covered family members continue to hold or trade in violation of the Act, the fine will be at least the value of the Members' monthly pay. The ETHICS Act also expands on disclosure requirements under 2012's Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.

Full text of the legislation is available here.