It’s time for Congress to deliver and ban insider stock trading

Americans are losing faith in Congress. According to recent polling from the Pew Research Center, just 17 percent of Americans trust the government to do what is right for the country — a near record low since this question was first posed to the American public nearly seven decades ago. As former members of Congress, we find this number to be a warning sign for the stability of our democratic republic. We know there is not a one size fits all solution to this, but one much needed reform is banning those who hold federal office (and their families) from stock trading.

It has been reported that in 2025 alone, members of Congress and their relatives executed 13,000 trades totaling a whopping $635.5 million. When members of the public see the people who set policy for our nation making investments that could benefit from their legislation or from non-public information, it’s no coincidence that trust in our country’s institutions has reached disturbing lows. Simply put, the public expects members of Congress to seek and hold office to serve the public, not their personal portfolios.

Several bills have been proposed to address this issue, but some supposed “solutions” are mere window dressing that fall far short of what is truly needed. One example of this is the Stop Insider Trading Act, which President Trump mentioned in his State of the Union address. This piece of legislation is a stunt disguised as reform and allows business as usual to continue.

Under the terms of that bill, members of Congress would be allowed to keep existing stocks, exclude key financial assets, and face weak penalties for noncompliance or violations. And that would apply even if the member sits on committees that directly affect the very companies or industries whose stocks or bonds the member holds. The public deserves better than this and integrity demands it. 

Fortunately, there is a better and real solution. Last year, a bipartisan group of members of Congress came together and drafted the Restore Trust in Congress Act, legislation in both the House and Senate that would ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading and owning individual stocks during their tenure in office. This legislation requires full divestment of individual stocks or bonds within strict timelines and includes strong penalties and enforcement mechanisms.

Support comes from both sides of the political aisle, including hard line conservatives (such as Rep. Chip Roy of Texas) and staunch progressives (such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York), both of whom helped drive this consensus bill forward — along with more than 128 co-sponsors from both parties. Further support came last December, when a bipartisan group of 90 former elected officials (including the authors of this column) spoke out in support of the Restore Trust in Congress Act and sent a letter to Congress urging leadership to pass this bill. 

Unfortunately, Washington gridlock has now stalled this superior version, and there is pressure coming from President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to pass the much weaker bill that will not truly solve the problem. 

But in spite of that pressure, the public demands real solutions. As we enter election season, we’re seeing a diverse pool of aspiring newcomers to Congress campaigning on banning stock trading, including Republicans Michael Whatley and Riley Owen, and Democrats Saikat Chakrabarti and James Talarico. This is both good policy and smart politics, since real reform is overwhelmingly supported by the public — regardless of party affiliation.

The American public has a right to expect their elected representatives to enact solutions to problems plaguing our political system. The Restore Trust in Congress Act will help stop the real and perceived corruption of stock trading by members of Congress, while the so-called Stop Insider Trading Act would not solve these problems and would not deserve the public’s trust. If this matters to you, which it should, lend your voice to the effort and demand accountability and integrity from your members of Congress.

The Restore Trust in Congress Act delivers. Now, will Congress?

Brian Baird, a Democrat, represented Washington’s 3rd District in Congress from 1999-2011. Charles Boustany, a Republican, represented Louisiana’s 7th and 3rd districts in Congress from 2005-2017.

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