U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, Jr. (R-PA) introduced legislation that would ban stock trading for Members of Congress.
His bill, the Transparency in Representation through Uniform Stock Trading Ban (TRUST) Act, would prohibit Members of Congress and their spouses from purchasing or selling stocks upon taking office.
“The public should never have to question whether their elected officials are serving the public or their own portfolios,” Bresnahan said. “I am introducing the TRUST Act to restore the integrity Americans expect and deserve from their government. This legislation allows for new levels of transparency and is a safeguard to ensure Washington works for the people.”
Specifically, the TRUST Act would require that, upon assuming office, members and their spouses may not purchase or sell covered financial instruments, including a security, security future, commodity, and other comparable economic interests. Instead, they would only be allowed to purchase, hold, and sell diversified mutual funds, diversified ETFs, investments in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and US Treasuries.
Members of Congress who purchase or sell a covered financial instrument while in office will be subject to fines and penalties.
However, the legislation would not require members and their spouses to divest of existing covered financial instruments. Any covered financial instrument a Congress member and their spouse own upon assuming office are grandfathered in. Additionally, the legislation would not apply to covered financial instruments held in a qualified blind trust.
“Members of Congress should not be allowed to profit off the information they are entrusted with – this is a belief I have held since before taking office, and this belief has not changed,” Bresnahan added. “I have never traded my own stocks, but I want to guarantee accountability to my constituents. That is why I am working with House Ethics to begin the process of enacting a blind trust. I want the people I represent to trust that I am in Congress to serve them, and them alone.”
If enacted, the legislation would go into effect at the start of the 120th Congress in January 2027.