Drama upends push to ban Congress from trading stocks

Axios

a day ago

A schism is emerging between members of Congress who want to ban their colleagues from trading stocks over how best to accomplish their shared goal.
Why it matters: Congressional stock trading has been the white whale of the last several Congresses, with lawmakers repeatedly trying and failing to pass a ban amid growing populist anger around the issue.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have expressed support for a ban, as has Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
But there are still roadblocks: Bipartisan momentum on a Senate stock trading bill ground to a halt after President Trump engaged in a public dustup with the bill's sponsor, Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
Driving the news: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) announced last month that she plans to introduce a discharge petition on a bill to ban lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children from trading or owning stocks.
A discharge petition can bypass House leadership and force a floor vote on any piece of legislation if 218 members — a majority of the chamber — sign on.
Luna's announcement came as a shock to House members involved in months-long bipartisan talks on crafting a compromise stock trading bill.
"She sort of parachuted in out of nowhere ... none of us knew she was going to do it," said one lawmaker involved in that effort, who said the group is now working to get Luna on side.
State of play: The bipartisan group includes Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Axios is told.
The lawmakers have been trying to reconcile a number of competing stock trading ban bills and figure out how to handle penalties for violations and divestment procedures.
The bill Luna wants to force to a vote, introduced by Burchett, has "a few problems," said the lawmaker who spoke anonymously — such as not addressing capital gains taxes for members who are forced to sell off their stocks or exemptions for spouses who get paid in equity.
They added that the bipartisan group sees a discharge petition as a "backup plan" and has "been working hard to secure commitments from leadership that this will move forward through regular order."
What they're saying: Morelle, who is also the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, told Axios that a stock trading ban is "critically important" and that "in order to make it workable … it has to be done well."
"It has to be done with forethought, and it has to be done in a way that's responsible to all the parties involved," he added, saying he hopes Luna's discharge petition "isn't just a way to grab headlines."
"We are very close to having a consensus bill that I think will be the strongest one and I think the most viable one that I think has been introduced so far," Magaziner told Axios in an interview.
The other side: "I would love to comment because we were never invited to these talks," Luna told Axios.
Luna claimed the bipartisan group doesn't actually want to bring forward a bill because they don't "want to hurt their friends. "
"And last time I checked it it's called 'representation,' not 'committee assignment jurisdiction,' on who gets to bring what to the floor."
The intrigue: Burchett, in a phone interview, suggested he is losing faith in the bipartisan discussions, telling Axios they are "just getting kind of complicated" and "won't go anywhere."
"Luna's going to force it, and I think we need to do that, because I'm sick of messing around," he added, predicting "some" Democrats will sign on.
But a senior House Democrat, asked about Luna's announcement, told Axios "it is causing problems and being sorted," while a Democratic leadership aide scoffed at the notion of negotiating with her.
What to watch: "I think we'll have something to release soon," Magaziner said of the bipartisan group.