• A bipartisan push to ban congressional stock trading has stalled after Democrats introduced a competing measure that includes President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance
• Representative Anna Paulina Luna’s discharge petition has 74 signatures including 15 Republicans but needs 218 to force a vote
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Luna’s effort while Democratic leadership discourages members from signing the bipartisan petition

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — A bipartisan effort to ban stock trading by members of Congress appears headed for collapse after Democrats introduced a competing proposal that would extend the prohibition to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, effectively fracturing what had been building as rare cross-party momentum on Capitol Hill.

Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida filed a discharge petition on December 2 to force a vote on the Restore Trust in Congress Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Representative Chip Roy and Representative Seth Magaziner that would prohibit lawmakers and their families from owning or trading individual stocks. The petition currently has 74 signatures, including 15 Republicans, enough to pass with full Democratic support if all 213 Democrats sign on.

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has actively discouraged Democrats from signing Luna’s petition, instead pushing a separate bill introduced by Magaziner at the request of Democratic leadership that includes the executive branch.

Democrats Pivot to Executive Branch Inclusion

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At a December 10 press conference, Jeffries blasted Luna’s discharge petition effort and argued any congressional stock trading ban must extend beyond Capitol Hill.

“If she’s interested in dealing with corruption, do something about the active ongoing crime scene coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the most corrupt administration in American history. And it’s not even close. And we don’t hear a peep from her or any of her colleagues about even extending the stock ban to the executive branch to Donald Trump to JD Vance or perhaps even to the Supreme Court.”

The Democratic proposal differs from the bipartisan bill in one key aspect by extending the stock trading ban to the president and vice president, a change that virtually guarantees no Republican support. Magaziner introduced the new measure at the behest of Democratic leadership and plans to file a separate discharge petition in January.

Representative Joseph Morelle, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, told reporters he won’t sign Luna’s discharge petition because it excludes the executive branch.

“The president clearly has much more of an ability to affect the markets, and this president has shown he’s perfectly willing to take advantage of that inherent conflict. So if Republicans are going to make the decision that they’ll only do it to members of Congress and not the biggest offender, I think it speaks volumes about what they value.”

Bipartisan Coalition Calls Strategy Political Maneuvering

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The development has frustrated advocates who spent months building bipartisan consensus around the Roy-Magaziner legislation, which was unveiled in September with 16 original cosponsors split evenly between parties and now has 119 total cosponsors.

Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight called the Democratic leadership move an attempt to undermine the only viable legislative vehicle.

“This is exactly what Pelosi did a few years ago. This is not only an unserious effort, it’s an attempt to undermine and kill off the only bipartisan legislative vehicle that is gaining momentum. It’s really bad faith all around.”

Luna responded to Jeffries’s accusation that she had “parachuted” into the issue by pointing to years of inaction from leadership.

“Accusing me of parachuting after they’ve been promising to reform it and have done nothing, I’m just being proactive. Now, I’m happy to negotiate with him.”

Magaziner, caught between his bipartisan partnership with Roy and Democratic leadership demands, said he supports both bills and encourages members to sign both discharge petitions.

Public Support Meets Leadership Resistance

Polling shows 86 percent of Americans support a congressional stock trading ban, making it one of the few policy proposals with overwhelming bipartisan public backing. The current law, the 2012 STOCK Act, requires members to publicly disclose stock trades within 30 days but is rarely enforced.

Both Speaker Mike Johnson and Jeffries have publicly expressed support for banning congressional stock trading, yet neither leader has moved legislation through regular committee process. Johnson told reporters in May he favors a ban but noted some members have raised concerns about the salary freeze since 2009.

House Republicans announced December 19 they will bring their own stock trading ban proposal for a vote in early 2026, creating a third competing measure. Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the House Administration Committee would work to advance legislation in the new year without providing specifics.

Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado signed Luna’s discharge petition and called it “absolutely unconscionable that a bill banning Members of Congress from trading individual stocks needs a discharge petition just to get a vote on the House Floor.”

Competing Petitions Likely to Fail

The strategic reality is stark. Luna’s bipartisan petition needs 144 more signatures to reach the required 218 for a floor vote. With Democratic leadership actively discouraging support, the petition appears unlikely to gain sufficient Democratic backing despite having enough Republican signatures to pass if Democrats were unified.

The Democratic alternative proposal extending the ban to Trump and Vance faces even longer odds, as virtually no Republicans are expected to support legislation targeting the president. Trump previously criticized similar Senate proposals earlier in 2025 when Senator Josh Hawley struck a deal with Democrats to advance a stock trading ban that included the executive branch.

Magaziner acknowledged ongoing negotiations, saying Roy has been working with Johnson and House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil to possibly pass the bill through regular order while Magaziner tries to address Democratic concerns about executive branch inclusion.

Representatives from both parties, including progressive Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapal, have backed the original bipartisan bill as the best path forward.

Will competing political priorities once again derail legislation that Americans overwhelmingly support, or can lawmakers find common ground on an issue that transcends partisan divisions?

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