Chair outlines House proposal to bar members from trading individual stocks amid concern about presidential trades

Lawmakers pressed the committee chair about recent news reporting on frequent trades tied to the president or handled on his behalf and asked whether a blind trust or other limitations would address conflicts of interest.

Congressman French Hill said the volume of trading "doesn't smell good, doesn't look good," and asked whether a third party manages those investments or whether a blind trust is in place. A committee member asked what a "perfected" ethics policy would look like, suggesting limits such as restricting trades to a set window each year or requiring blind trusts.

The chair summarized a House proposal under consideration: "you can hold mutual funds and you can hold exchange traded funds, but you cannot trade individual stock names is the proposal that's before a house committee now." He said the proposal aims to prevent members from trading individual stocks that could present conflicts of interest while preserving commonly held diversified vehicles.

The chair also reiterated that insider trading is illegal for everyone and emphasized the role of disclosure and transparency. He noted that the Office of Government Ethics and existing reporting rules constrain members and that House committees are working on additional disclosure tied to individual stock names.

The transcript records no formal adoption of a ban; the chair described the proposal and the ethics framework but did not announce a committee vote or final rule in these remarks.