EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) has introduced legislation that would ban members of Congress and their families from buying stocks.
The bill Ricketts introduced on Wednesday is companion legislation to the bill Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) introduced in the House. Ricketts’s bill already has co-sponsors and comes after President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass the ban during his State of the Union address last month.
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Such a ban is overwhelmingly popular with voters and has been floated for years, but some hope that Trump’s support will breathe new life into the effort.
“No lawmaker should ever profit from insider information,” Ricketts said. “Trust in Congress remains at an all-time low. To fix that, we need to prove we are playing by the same rules as everyone else.”
The legislation, the Stop Insider Trading Act, specifically would implement a total ban on members, spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks, and would require public notice of at least seven days, but no more than 14 days, for a lawmaker, spouse, or dependent child to sell a stock.
The bill also includes enforcement actions. It establishes a penalty of either $2,000 or 10% of the investment value of the stock, whichever number is greater, in addition to the seizure of any net gain from the sale of that stock.
The House version of the bill, introduced by Steil, already has over 90 co-sponsors, including two Democrats — Reps. Josh Riley (D-NY) and Ed Case (D-HI).
“I’m grateful to Senator Ricketts for leading the Stop Insider Trading Act in the Senate,” Steil said. “Our bill ensures no lawmaker is able to profit off of insider information, and I’m confident we will succeed in getting this bill to President Trump’s desk.”
As of the Senate bill’s introduction on Wednesday, it has five co-sponsors — Sens. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Jon Husted (R-OH), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
Polling shows that the public supports such a ban. A survey from 2023 found that over 85% of both Republicans and Democrats alike support a ban.
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During the State of the Union, Trump joked about Democrats in the context of a stock trading ban.
“They stood up for that. I can’t believe, I can’t believe it. Did [former House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she is here? Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay,” the president said.