Senate blocks Republican bill restricting stock trading by US Congress members | US Congress

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a Republican bill restricting the stock trading of members of Congress, after Democrats refused to advance a measure they said would allow lawmakers to keep their wallets and was associated with voter ID rules they called a “poison pill.”

The 53-47 vote fell seven votes short of the 60 needed to open debate on the Stop Insider Trading Act, which the Republican-controlled House passed in July. All Democrats and independents voted no, and this failure comes five weeks before the November 3 midterm elections.

The bill would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing individual stocks. Democrats said it did not constitute a ban because lawmakers could keep everything they already own, reinvest dividends in more stocks and allow a spouse or child to make trades on their behalf.

Several also wanted the rules extended to the president and other White House officials, while others opposed photo ID requirements for voting, which they said would make it harder for eligible citizens to vote.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, called the bill a “corruption license” and said Republicans designed it to fail. He noted that a Senate committee proposed a bipartisan ban last year and accused Republicans of ignoring it. His deputy, Dick Durbin, dismissed the bill as “meaningless” as “an inadequate congressional ban on stock trading” and a “Republican message.”

Republicans said Democrats prioritized policy over reform. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, who faces a tight re-election race, told the Senate “we must restore the confidence of the American people” in Congress.

Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican National Committee, accused Democrats of choosing “protecting the swamp” over voter identification and accountability and said “voters should hold them accountable in November.”

This fight is the latest in years of unsuccessful efforts. The best known is the so-called “Pelosi Act,” introduced by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who said it would help restore confidence in Congress by prohibiting its members from trading and holding stocks. A Senate committee proposed a reworked version 8-7, with Hawley the only Republican in favor, after the name was dropped and future presidents were added, although Trump was protected. Trump attacked Hawley on Truth Social over the vote, and the bill never became law.

Trump’s own exchanges were stunning. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and California Rep. Robert Garcia pointed to revelations of more than 14,000 stock trades in his first year back in office worth up to $1.06 billion, calling the volume “unprecedented” for a sitting president. Bloomberg reported that from January 2025 to June 2026, Trump made nearly 28,700 transactions, compared to 22,200 for all lawmakers combined. Nothing in the filings shows insider trading, and they don’t say whether Trump directed the trades himself.

Lawmakers have faced similar questions, and a Common Cause report finds that members of both parties made 13,324 transactions worth $635.6 million last year.

In April 2025, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Republican U.S. Representative, bought shares of Apple and Tesla just before Trump suspended many of his tariffs and the markets soared.

Nancy Pelosi is one of the most followed marketers in Congress, and Trump called her out by name in February’s State of the Union address. Yet Republicans and Democrats were evenly split among the 10 best-performing portfolios in Congress last year, while Pelosi ranked 28th, according to an Unusual Whales analysis.

The vote was one of the Senate’s final acts before recessing for the remainder of the election campaign.