Bipartisan push to ban congressional stock trading highlighted in House Administration hearing

Members of the House told the Committee on House Administration they support legislation that would bar members of Congress from trading individual stocks while in office and that the panel should advance proposals to limit potential conflicts of interest.

Representative Mr. Magaziner said he and Representative Mr. Roy co-sponsored the Trust in Congress Act (H.R. 396) to “ban members of Congress from trading stocks,” describing the bill as a bipartisan response to concerns that members can profit from access to nonpublic information. “All of us in elected office should be focused on doing what is right for the people who sent us here, not turning a profit for ourselves,” Magaziner said.

Representative Mr. Roy described ranges of observed trading returns by members to illustrate the scale of activity and argued for reforms such as mandatory placement of holdings into broadly held mutual funds, conversion options on arrival to Congress (to avoid tax penalties), and internal penalties if members violate restrictions. Roy and Magaziner both said they favored meaningful but achievable penalties and suggested internal House enforcement — such as removal from committee assignments — as one option.

Why it matters: multiple speakers said transparency alone has not stopped problematic trading and that expanding restrictions — through blind trusts, divestment, or prohibition on new equity purchases — could reduce both conflicts and the appearance of impropriety.

The hearing produced detailed policy options for committee consideration but no formal votes or committee-level action during this session.