Senate Democrats Block Bill to Limit Lawmakers’ Stock Trading, Citing Voter ID Provision

Washington- A Republican-led effort to approve a House-passed securities trading bill failed in the Senate on Wednesday, with Democrats arguing the restrictions don’t go far enough while opposing a voter ID provision they say would hollow out mail-in voting.

In a vote of 53-47, along party lines, the measure failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.

The bill, known as the Stop Insider Trading Act, passed the House in July with the support of all Republicans and 13 Democrats. It would prohibit lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks, while requiring them to publicly disclose each planned sale at least a week in advance to limit their ability to profit from inside information.

But Democrats argued the bill doesn’t go far enough, emphasizing the need for an outright ban on members of Congress, as well as the president and members of his administration.

“The toothless Republican stock trading bill is as ineffective as a screen door on a submarine,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor before the vote. “And let’s be clear: They don’t even want the bill to pass. They designed the bill to fail.”

The New York Democrat spoke out against the legislation earlier this week, while emphasizing that it would not apply to the executive branch. He said Republicans “ridden the White House of their so-called crackdown on corruption.”

Democrats also viewed the bill’s provision requiring voters to show photo ID when voting in federal elections as a poison pill intended to entice them to vote against popular stock market restrictions. The unrelated provision was included in the bill as President Trump pressured Congress to approve election-related legislation before the midterms.

GOP leaders moved up the vote Wednesday as senators prepare to leave town to hit the campaign trail, holding the vote alongside another bill aimed at protecting Americans from energy costs attributed to data centers later in the day. The votes, which were expected to fail, were intended to put Democrats on the map on the issues at a time when Senate Republicans face several races that have become more competitive, challenging control of the upper chamber next year.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, called the bill a “common-sense piece of legislation,” pointing to its limitations on stock trading and the voter ID requirement.

“It’s a pretty simple measure,” Thune said. “But it is an important way to ensure that members of Congress are held to the standards that America should be able to expect of their representatives.”

Lawmakers have made a number of efforts to ban stock trading in Congress in recent years. But Schumer argued that the latest bill “is not a ban on stock trading, it is Republicans’ latest effort to save face.” If Republicans want to ban stock trading, the New York Democrat said his caucus is “ready to go.”