The years-long effort to ban members of Congress from trading stocks is back in the spotlight following a House Ethics Committee report that took issue with transactions made by a member’s spouse, and after a Senate panel advanced legislation to prohibit lawmakers from making transactions.

And some lawmakers are vowing to keep the topic front and center into the fall as they look to make headways on a matter that has mystified Congress.

Leading that effort is Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who plans to file a discharge petition on legislation to prohibit lawmakers and their immediate families from owning, trading or controlling stocks, commodities or futures, directing lawmakers to divest their holdings within 180 days of the bill’s enactment.

If the procedural gambit is successful, the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn), would hit the floor in the fall. But if the past is prologue, getting the measure over the finish line will be a tall task.

Supporters, however, are optimistic they will find success.

“I think America is aware of what’s going on,” Burchett told The Hill. “They know it’s not natural for somebody to, day in and day out, pick stock and have a 100, 200, 300 percent return, and they’re tired of seeing Congress members making $170,000 a year retiring worth millions.”

While the idea of banning members from trading stocks is widely popular among the public, some lawmakers for years have balked at the push, raising concerns about the level of pay for members — a $174,000 salary, which has been frozen since 2009, constituting a 30 percent pay cut when adjusting for inflation.

And even among those who support banning members from trading stocks, there is disagreement about the details.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental........

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