A bipartisan measure that would block members of Congress from trading stocks while in office made progress on Wednesday as a key Senate panel reported the legislation to the floor.
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved, 8-4, a revamped version of a bill that would ban members, their spouses and dependents, and the president and vice president from buying or owning individual stocks and other assets.
“Today we’re going to take a historic step toward passing legislation that will ban members of Congress from trading stocks. This is the first time that a Senate committee is marking up legislation to tackle this issue,” Chair Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said at the meeting. “Americans deserve to be confident that their federal elected officials are making decisions that are in the best interests of the public and not their own personal interest.”
