The Stop Insider Trading Act would prohibit new stock purchases by members of Congress but stop short of requiring divestment of existing holdings
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The U.S. House is set to vote on legislation Wednesday that would bar members of Congress from buying individual stocks while in office, pairing the measure with a voter-identification requirement in a package that faces Democratic opposition and an uncertain path in the Senate.
The bill, the Stop Insider Trading Act, was introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., who testified before the House Rules Committee in support of the legislation. Under the measure, members of Congress along with their spouses and dependent children would be banned from acquiring shares in publicly traded companies, according to CNBC. Members seeking to sell any portion of their existing portfolio could do so only after giving public notice of that intention at least a week ahead of the transaction.
The bill would not require members to divest existing individual stock holdings. The legislation would stiffen financial penalties for members who fail to properly report stock sales, setting the new fine at $2,000 or 10% of the transaction's value, whichever is larger, compared with a $200 penalty that currently applies to first-time violators.
"I think it's really important that we tell the American people we're done allowing members of Congress to be day-trading stocks," Rep. Steil told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Wednesday morning before the vote. "Let's remove even the appearance of impropriety that any given trade is based on any inside information an individual may gain while serving in Washington."
Critics say the legislation does not go far enough. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., who is part of a bipartisan coalition that has pushed for a more comprehensive ban, called it "a stock trading ban that still allows stock trading."
House Republicans attached a voter-ID provision to the bill, requiring voters to show photo identification when casting a ballot in federal elections. Rep. Steil said 24 states already require a photo ID to vote and the legislation would make that standard nationwide. The addition of that provision further eroded the bill's already thin prospects for attracting Democratic votes. If the combined bill advances to the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, its fate is unclear.
Existing law dating to 2012 bans congressional insider trading, but enforcement has been sporadic and the associated penalties have long been criticized as insufficient.
The vote comes as congressional stock trading has drawn renewed scrutiny. President Donald Trump's trading disclosures showed more than 3,700 transactions in the first three months of 2026, including purchases of Nvidia $NVDA and Axon stock ahead of major government announcements involving those companies. Vice President JD Vance said at the time that Trump's wealth advisors manage his money independently and that the proper response was to outlaw such trading entirely.
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