Congress bans itself from stock trading—with 90 days to divest.

What it does

This bill prohibits Members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependents from owning or trading stocks, bonds (except U.S. Treasuries and municipal bonds), commodities, and derivatives. Covered individuals have 90 days to divest or place holdings in a blind trust. Violations can result in civil penalties up to $50,000, and losses from illegal trades cannot be deducted from taxes. The bill exempts widely held mutual funds, Treasury securities, municipal bonds, and Thrift Savings Plan accounts.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward prohibition on financial holdings by Members of Congress and their families, designed to eliminate conflicts of interest and insider-trading incentives. It is a governance and accountability measure, not a market intervention or subsidy.

What the text implies

• The 90-day divestiture window may force some members to realize losses in a down market, creating political pressure to delay implementation or seek extensions.
• Spouses employed in finance or investment management face the most acute compliance burden, potentially forcing career changes or spousal separation of finances.
• The blind trust mechanism requires ethics office approval and trustee certification, creating new administrative overhead and potential bottlenecks.
• Tax treatment under IRC Section 1043 allows deferral of capital gains if divested under a conflict-of-interest statute, reducing the financial sting of forced sales but creating a tax-code carve-out.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill directly addresses a source of democratic corruption—legislators trading on inside information or legislating to benefit their personal portfolios. Restricting this conduct strengthens public trust and reduces the incentive for self-dealing legislation. The exemptions for Treasury securities, municipal bonds, and mutual funds preserve legitimate investment options while blocking the highest-conflict instruments.

Named in the bill

Members of Congress, House Committee on Ways and Means, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Commodity Exchange Act, Investment Company Act, Thrift Savings Plan, Internal Revenue Code Section 1043, Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, Congressional ethics committees, Attorney General

Where it stands

14 cosponsors: 11 Democrats, 3 Republicans.

• Jan 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 9, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on House Administration · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $80,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 26 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Brian Fitzpatrick, the sponsor, reported $2,362,211 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Transparency International U.S. (a Project of the Fund for Constitutional Govt) — $70,000 on 2 filings
• Campaign Legal Center, Inc. — $10,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.