{"id":45459,"date":"2025-08-11T15:37:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/?post_type=article&p=45459"},"modified":"2025-08-11T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:37:36","slug":"more-regulations-on-member-stock-trading-would-help-fight-corruption-in-congress","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/tl\/articles\/more-regulations-on-member-stock-trading-would-help-fight-corruption-in-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"More Regulations on Member Stock Trading Would Help Fight Corruption in Congress"},"template":"","class_list":["post-45459","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Should members of Congress be allowed to trade stocks? Most Americans say they shouldn\u2019t, and now several lawmakers are joining them.","featured_image":"","article_type":1103,"authors":"","related_issues":[149,2082,130],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Did you know members of Congress can buy and sell stocks, even while they\u2019re making laws that could affect those companies?<\/span>\r\n\r\nIf that sounds unfair to you, it\u2019s because it is.<\/b> Major issues arise when the very people who are supposed to regulate companies also stand to make a profit from their success. And in moments of economic turmoil, they may have access to information the public doesn\u2019t, giving them a chance to protect their own finances <\/span>or even make a lot of money<\/b> before anyone else knows what\u2019s coming.<\/span>\r\n\r\nRight now, lawmakers are supposed to report their trades to the public. But there\u2019s no law stopping them from trading stocks altogether, even if it creates a conflict of interest. And when they break the rules? The fine is just $200.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAmericans are fed up.<\/b> That\u2019s why a growing number of lawmakers from both political parties want to change the law and <\/span>ban or restrict stock trading in Congress.<\/b>\r\n

Why Stock Trading in Congress Is a Problem<\/span><\/h3>\r\nMembers of Congress have access to information that regular people don\u2019t. They hear about big decisions, economic changes, and global emergencies before the rest of us do. That means they could make trades based on that information, even if they say they aren\u2019t.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s what happened in early 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic was starting to spread in the U.S., <\/span>several members of Congress made big stock moves<\/b><\/a> pagkatapos<\/i><\/b> they got private briefings about the virus.<\/b> Similarly, right before the Great Recession, <\/span>several members of Congress <\/span>profited from stock trades they made following a closed-door briefing on the state of the economy.<\/b><\/a>\r\n\r\nStock ownership in Congress is <\/span>bipartisan<\/b> at <\/span>incredibly common<\/b><\/a>. In the last congressional session, only 5% of members didn\u2019t own any stock or widely held investment funds. Of the members that own shares of individual stocks, where the risk of corruption is highest, 59% were Republicans and 41% were Democrats.<\/span>\r\n

What laws are currently in place?<\/span><\/h3>\r\nBack in 2012, Congress passed a law called the STOCK Act. It required lawmakers to report their trades within 30 days so the public could see what they were doing with their money.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe idea was to make things more transparent. But in reality, <\/span>the law doesn\u2019t have any teeth. <\/b>The fine for breaking the rule is just $200 \u2013 a small price to pay when some trades make thousands or even millions of dollars.<\/span>\r\n\r\nOver 10 years later, <\/span>not a single member of Congress has been prosecuted<\/b><\/a> for violating the STOCK Act.<\/b>\r\n

The Public Wants Action, and Lawmakers Are Starting to Listen<\/span><\/h3>\r\nIt\u2019s not just watchdog groups and reporters who are paying attention. <\/span>86% of Americans<\/b> want Congress to prohibit its members from trading stocks<\/span><\/a>, including 88% of Democrats and 87% of Republicans. That\u2019s close to total agreement that <\/span>something has to change<\/b>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nNow, some lawmakers are trying to do something about it. Here are a few examples:<\/span>\r\n