Congress bans itself from stock trading—and publishes who breaks the rules

What it does

This bill prohibits Members of Congress, their spouses and dependents, the President, Vice President, federal judges, senior executives, and other high-ranking federal officials from owning or trading individual stocks, commodities, futures, and derivatives. Covered individuals must divest within 180 days (or 90 days if they enter office after enactment), with exceptions for diversified mutual funds, Treasury bonds, municipal bonds, real estate held as personal residence, and small business interests. Violations trigger a 10% fine on the investment's value plus disgorgement of profits, with fines published online and barred from being paid using official allowances or campaign funds.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a blanket prohibition on individual stock and derivative ownership by federal officials and their families, coupled with mandatory divestiture and financial penalties. This is a direct anti-corruption / conflict-of-interest measure, not a market regulation or industry carve-out.

What the text implies

• The bill applies to spouses and dependent children of covered officials, extending the restriction beyond the official themselves and potentially affecting family financial planning and spousal autonomy.
• Exceptions for 'widely held investment funds' (mutual funds) and Treasury bonds may create a two-tier system where wealthy officials can maintain diversified passive portfolios while ordinary citizens can trade individual stocks, potentially inverting the transparency goal.
• The 10% fine structure may be insufficient deterrent for high-net-worth officials; a $1M stock position triggers only a $100K fine, which could be absorbed as a cost of doing business.
• Publication of enforcement records may create political targeting risk if ethics offices selectively enforce against officials from one party, though the bill itself does not authorize selective enforcement.

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

Who it affects

The bill restricts the financial self-dealing opportunities of federal officials and their families, reducing conflicts of interest in policy-making that affects markets and public welfare. Citizens benefit from increased transparency (published enforcement records) and the removal of incentives for officials to make decisions favoring their personal investment portfolios.

Named in the bill

Members of Congress, President, Vice President, Federal judges, Senior executives (SES), Schedule C employees, Supervising ethics offices, Internal Revenue Service (IRC § 1043), Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Commodity Exchange Act, Small Business Act, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act — and 1 more

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.

• Jun 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jun 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on House Administration · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House…”

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

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $20,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 10 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 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Maggie Goodlander, the sponsor, reported $308,575 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Project on Government Oversight — $20,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.