What changed my mind on banning Congress from trading stocks

"Perception is reality" — and right now, the public sees corruption

I spent nearly 20 years working on Capitol Hill, and I’ll be honest: I didn’t always support banning stock trading by members of Congress. The argument against a ban made sense to me for a long time. Congress is wildly unpopular, and no one feels sorry for them — but (!) they also haven’t received a pay raise in 17 years while being expected to maintain homes in both their districts and Washington, DC, one of the most expensive cities in the country. That pressure pushes members who don’t arrive wealthy to look for additional income streams.

But I don’t think that way anymore. The problem has gotten worse, the abuses more blatant, and the damage to public trust too severe to ignore.

The Hall of Shame

Members of Congress have access to information the rest of us don’t. They sit in classified briefings about national security. They hear from industry experts behind closed doors. They write the laws that decide which companies win and which lose. And then some of them go home and trade stocks based on what they learned.

During the early days of COVID-19 in 2020, several senators attended private briefings warning about the coming pandemic. Before the public knew how bad things would get, these senators sold millions of dollars in stocks, protecting their portfolios right before the market crashed. Meanwhile, regular Americans watched their retirement accounts tank.

Or consider the semiconductor industry. One high-profile case involved purchasing over a million dollars in Nvidia options just one week before Congress voted on providing subsidies to chip manufacturers. The stock soared. Pure coincidence? The public isn’t buying it.

Research found that in just 55 days during the early pandemic, 53 members made over 2,200 stock trades valued between $34.9 million and $140 million. Whether each individual trade broke the law or not, the pattern is clear: when uncertainty hits, some lawmakers seem awfully focused on their portfolios instead of their constituents.

Why the Current Law Doesn’t Work

The STOCK Act, passed in 2012, was supposed to fix this problem. But the penalty for violating it is just $200 — hardly a deterrent when you just made thousands. No member of Congress has been prosecuted for insider trading since the law’s passage. The whole thing has basically failed.

The Solution: The Restore Trust in Congress Act

That’s why we’re supporting H.R. 5106, the Restore Trust in Congress Act. This bill would ban members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks, futures, options, and similar investments while in office.

Here’s what makes this bill both fair and practical: Members can still participate in the market through index funds, ETFs, and mutual funds. For those who already own significant individual stock holdings, they can either divest or place them in qualified blind trusts (aka an independent party manages the trading with no knowledge or control by the Member of Congress). The bill gives lawmakers 180 days to make these changes, and violations carry real consequences — a penalty equal to 10% of the prohibited investment’s value, plus forfeiting any profits.

This approach addresses the legitimate concern I have: we don’t want to create such a disincentive to public service that we only two types of people run; the wealthy and the fame seekers. Index funds and blind trusts allow members to build wealth for their families without creating conflicts of interest. It’s a reasonable compromise that solves the problem without punishing people for choosing public service.

Why This Matters

This legislation has bipartisan support from Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) (Freedom Caucus) to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (“The Squad”), and more. Polling shows an overwhelming 86% or more of Americans support a ban. Even President Trump has said he supports it, noting he watched members of Congress “get rich through insider information.”

At the end of the day, perception is reality. Whether every trade was technically legal or not doesn’t matter if the public believes Congress is corrupt. And right now, that’s exactly what people believe. We can’t have a functioning, effective legislative branch that commands respect if the American people think their representatives are using inside information to get rich.

This is especially urgent as we fight Executive branch overreach and defend constitutional democracy. People need to believe in democratic institutions for them to work. Every stock trading scandal chips away at that belief, making it harder to rally Americans around defending the rule of law and constitutional principles.

What You Can Do

Call your representative. Tell them you support H.R. 5106, the Restore Trust in Congress Act. Make it clear this isn’t optional — you’re watching, and you expect them to put the public interest above their portfolios.

And if you want to support the fight against corruption and government overreach more broadly, including the Executive branch, consider joining Bright America. Your membership helps fund pro-democracy litigation through our partner, Campaign Legal Center.

We need a Congress Americans can believe in again. This is where it starts.