Rep. Angie Craig Presses Speaker McCarthy for a Vote on Congressional Stock Trading Ban

WASHINGTON, DC – As part of her continued efforts to reform Washington, U.S. Representative Angie Craig is urging House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to fulfill his promise to address Member stock trading.

In a letter to Speaker McCarthy, Rep. Craig and seven other Members of Congress outlined their priorities for any legislation to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. The Members urged a ban on trading for Members of Congress, their spouses and all dependents under 18 and advocated for clear enforcement strategies to ensure Members are adhering to the ban.

“In July 2022, you promised reform, stating, “What I’ve told everybody, we will come back and we will not only investigate this, we will come back with a proposal to change the current behavior [stock trading]”. As you now set the House floor agenda for the 118th Congress as Speaker of the House, we respectfully request you act on your promise,” the Members wrote.

In addition to Rep. Craig, the letter was signed by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, Jared Golden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Joe Neguse, Katie Porter and Andy Kim.

A full copy of the letter can be found here and copied below.

February 2, 2023

The Honorable Speaker McCarthy

H-204, The Capitol

Washington, D.C., 20515

We, the undersigned, are writing today to follow up on our September 1, 2022, letter and respectfully request you bring legislation to ban the trading of stocks by Members of Congress to the House floor for a vote as soon as possible. In July 2022, you promised reform, stating, “What I’ve told everybody, we will come back and we will not only investigate this, we will come back with a proposal to change the current behavior [stock trading]”.1 As you now set the House floor agenda for the 118th Congress as Speaker of the House, we respectfully request you act on your promise.

We, the undersigned, were leaders on this issue in the 117th Congress with the introduction of several bipartisan and bicameral proposals to implement reforms regarding Members of Congress’ stock trading practices. Last Congress, we led various legislative efforts to reform stock trading practices by Members of Congress, including, but not limited to the Ban Conflicted Trading Act (H.R. 1579), the TRUST in Congress Act (H.R. 336), the Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act (H.R. 6678), the STOCK Act 2.0 (H.R. 6694), the No Option for Stock Trading and Ownership as a Check to Keep Congress Clean Resolution (H.Res. 873), and the Restoring Trust in Public Servants Act (H.R. 6844). These efforts would have helped regain public trust in Congress and ensure that Members, their families, and staff do not improperly utilize their positions for personal gain. On September 1, 2022, we sent a letter to you, then-Speaker Pelosi, and the leadership of the House Administration Committee outlining a set of core principles that should be considered in any comprehensive stock trading reform legislation. We continue to feel strongly that the following provisions must be included in any comprehensive stock trade ban considered in the 118th Congress:

1. Cover all Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependents under 18;
2. Prohibit covered persons from owning or trading securities, commodities, futures, derivatives, options, or other similar financial assets, including where such investments are traded through an investment vehicle that the covered person controls;
3. Require covered persons to either divest prohibited investments within 120 days of the effective date, place such investments in a Qualified Blind Trust, or diversify such investments by placing them in widely held, diversified mutual or exchange-traded funds, or U.S. Treasury bills, notes, or bonds;
4. Qualified Blind Trusts must be truly blind
5. Stipulate clear enforcement mechanisms and penalties that are sufficient to ensure Member compliance
6. Omit any gimmicks, carveouts, or exemptions that undercut the purpose of this legislation; and
7. Does not delay the effective date beyond what is reasonably necessary to implement the bill.

As advocates for good government, we request that you act upon this bipartisan momentum and schedule a floor vote to pass legislation that would enact the above framework. We respectfully request that you respond to this letter by February 10, 2023. In your response, please inform us when you plan to bring legislation which reflects the above principles to the House floor. We continue to stand ready to assist in this important effort and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

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