Congress moves to limit lawmakers’ stock trading over ethics concerns

The U.S. House Administration Committee will hold a hearing today examining past attempts to restrict congressional stock trading, providing new momentum behind the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-TX, and championed by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, would ban members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependent children, from buying and trading individual stocks.

Kedric Payne, CLC’s vice president, general counsel, and senior director of ethics, said in a statement that the public deserves leaders “who put public good over their personal financial interests.”

He argued that when lawmakers hold or trade stocks that could be affected by legislation or by nonpublic information they receive through their official roles, it cr