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House passes insider trading ban
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Stop Insider Trading Act on Wednesday by a 232-198 vote, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration.
“House passes bill that would ban members from buying stock Some Dems opposed its voter ID provision and not covering the executive branch”
The bill would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks while they serve, while allowing them to keep stocks they already own.
House sponsor Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin lawmaker, said the legislation “ensures no lawmaker can profit off of insider information” and “institutes strict penalties for any violation.”
The bill would require members of Congress to provide seven days’ notice before selling stocks if they already hold assets, and it would impose penalties described by Steil as “a fine equal to $2,000 or 10% of the transaction.”
Democrats split over voter ID
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after the bill’s passage that “The Stop Insider Trading Act, that bans lawmakers from trading and buying individual stocks and from abusing their office for financial gain.”
But ABC News reported that the House also mandated voters provide photo identification “as a condition of casting a ballot,” and that some Democrats opposed the voter ID provision and the bill’s failure to cover the executive branch.
Senator Elizabeth Warren said the bill “won’t solve the problem” because “Lawmakers can continue owning and selling stocks — so it won’t solve the problem.”
ABC News quoted Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico saying the bill “does not ban stock trading because you could still acquire stocks, sell stocks, use information that you have that you garner here in Congress to make a profit.”
Senate future and exemptions
The bill’s path in the Senate was described as uncertain by WENY News, which said the Stop Insider Trading Act cleared the House Wednesday but faces a “controversial voter ID proposal” that will likely complicate its chances of becoming law.
Fortune reported that the bill’s passage was “tempered” by Republican provisions that exempt the president from the trading ban and by the inclusion of an unrelated voter identification requirement.
Fortune also said President Donald Trump disclosed in May that in the first quarter of this year he had made more than 3,600 buy and sell orders, many involving companies with business before his administration or regulated by it.
In the Senate, the bill could face opposition over scope, while the House debate included criticism from Rep. Joseph Morelle, a New York Democrat, who called the measure “a sham” because it “allows members of Congress to continue owning and trading stocks.”
