Congress likely won’t vote on a law that would ban them from trading stocks. They refused to vote on the bill the first time it was proposed. This new attempt will not be passed and will likely not even be brought forward for a vote. This is the third time the bill has been put before the US House.

Yet a bipartisan group of House lawmakers reintroduced a proposal to ban members of Congress from trading stocks while in office. Last year’s attempt to institute such a ban fell short of a floor vote.

Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas reintroduced the TRUST in Congress Act on Thursday. It would require members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust while the member is in office.

Spanberger, Roy and their co-sponsors say if the bill is passed it would effectively ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, making sure they can not continue to use their elected positions to unethically inform investment decisions or influence the value of their current investments.

“We are long overdue for a vote on legislation to ban Members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks. Last Congress, we saw the TRUST in Congress Act receive the most bipartisan support of any effort to do so. We saw tremendous momentum, we saw growing support in our districts, and we saw growing recognition across the political spectrum that such a reform needs to be made now,” said Spanberger. “I’ve been proud to lead the charge on this issue, and I want to thank my colleague Congressman Roy for his continued partnership as we reduce potential conflicts of interest in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Our TRUST in Congress Act would demonstrate that lawmakers are focused on serving the interests of the American people, not their own stock portfolios.”

Members of Congress regularly out perform even the best investors while they are in office, heavily suggesting insider trading and what should be deemed criminal corruption.

Abigail Spanberger’s office announced in a statement, “U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Chip Roy (R-TX-21) today led 35 of their colleagues in reintroducing a bipartisan bill to require Members of Congress — as well as their spouses and dependent children — to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress, effectively banning them from trading individual stocks.”

See the press releases from Abigail Spanberger here and from Chip Roy here.

Photo by Democracy Chronicles is in the Public Domain