Ban Our Lawmakers From Trading Stocks

Using classified Congressional information to make huge profits off stock trading is a serious ethical issue that has been allowed to fester for far too long.

Members of Congress in both parties have exploited their positions in order to profit — most notoriously during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which 12 senators made a combined 127 purchases or sales of stocks, while 37 House representatives made at least 1,358 transactions to either sell off their stocks that were about to lose value or invest in those that were about to skyrocket. 

Ban our lawmakers from trading stocks!

Thankfully, the Senate has just agreed to a bipartisan bill to put a stop to this corrupt practice once and for all. The new bill, if passed, would direct lawmakers to stop buying any new individual stocks immediately and at the beginning of the next session of Congress in 2027 lawmakers will be required to divest from any individual assets. 

More importantly, the law would levy fines as high as the lawmakers’ entire monthly salary for violating it — a huge improvement from the current law, which demands just a $200 fine for failing to disclose stock trades within 45 days. 

"If you want to serve in Congress don't come here to serve your portfolio, come here to serve the people,” said bill sponsor Sen. Markey in a statement. We couldn’t agree more! 

Pass the new Senate bill to ban lawmakers from corrupt stock trading!