Congress Moves to Ban Stock Trading for Members and Families: 180 Days to Sell Off Assets

This legislative package is a two-for-one deal: first, a procedural resolution to fast-track a vote, and second, the actual bill that bans stock trading for lawmakers. The core of the action is the “Restore Trust in Congress Act,” which makes it illegal for Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to trade or own individual stocks, commodities, or complex financial derivatives while serving. If this passes, current members and their families have 180 days to sell off any restricted investments at fair market value. New members get a tighter deadline of 90 days from the start of their service.

The End of Individual Stock Picks

For anyone who follows politics, the idea of elected officials trading on potentially privileged information has been a headache. This bill aims to stop that by forcing a clear separation. The restrictions hit "covered individuals"—the Member, their spouse, and their dependent children—meaning the whole family has to clean up their portfolio. The law bans ownership of most individual stocks and complex investment tools like options and futures contracts. Think of it this way: if your representative owns stock in a company that benefits from a bill they are about to vote on, that’s now a huge penalty risk.

Crucially, the bill doesn't force families into cash. It allows for several key exceptions. You can still own widely held, diversified, publicly traded investment funds (like common index funds or broad mutual funds), U.S. Treasury securities, and state or local government bonds. For the average person, this means lawmakers will be investing like most of us—in broad market funds—instead of trying to pick winners and losers based on inside knowledge. There’s also an exception for a spouse’s or dependent child’s compensation received directly from their job, which recognizes that family members often have separate careers.

The Penalty Box: 10% Fine Plus Profits

If a covered individual breaks the rules, the penalty is stiff. The supervising ethics office will slap them with a fine equal to 10 percent of the value of the investment involved. On top of that, they have to give back any profits made from the illegal transaction, with all that money going straight to the U.S. Treasury. This is a significant deterrent designed to make the risk far outweigh any potential reward. The ethics office must also publicly post details about every fine assessed, ensuring there’s no hiding violations.

Procedural Speed Bumps and Hidden Amendments

To ensure this ethics bill moves quickly, the procedural resolution waives virtually all procedural hurdles—what they call “points of order”—that could slow down or block the debate and final vote. This fast-track approach makes it much harder for opponents to derail the bill using standard House rules. While speeding up the process for a popular ethics bill sounds good, it means less time for thorough scrutiny, which is always a trade-off in lawmaking.

Interestingly, the text also includes several seemingly unrelated technical amendments to the Public Health Service Act, tucked into the legislative package. These changes tweak how public health funds are allocated, how state plans are submitted, and who counts as a “covered employee.” For state and local health departments, these minor-sounding adjustments could shift resources or reporting deadlines, potentially impacting how they deliver services, even though the main focus of the bill is congressional ethics.