U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has successfully cleared a significant hurdle with the legislation he introduced two years ago against members of Congress engaging in stock trading. The proposed bill aims to prohibit such practices and has gained considerable support.
On Wednesday, the bill was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and it has now been sent to the Senate floor.
On Thursday, Ossoff emphasized the need for long overdue ethics reform, stating that it is imperative that members of Congress refrain from playing the stock market while in office. He further added that this sentiment is shared among Georgians and Americans from all political backgrounds.
A bill introduced by Ossoff, along with committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., aims to promote bipartisanship by prohibiting members of Congress from buying stocks and other covered investments. The bill also includes a ban on lawmakers selling stocks for a period of 90 days after enactment. Additionally, spouses and dependent children will be prohibited from trading stocks starting in March 2027.
Starting in 2027, the proposed legislation mandates that all covered investments must be divested by members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President.
Ossoff argues that members of Congress have the ability to impact policies that can greatly affect American businesses and industries. Therefore, it is essential that they are not permitted to manipulate these decisions in a manner that benefits their financial interests. Additionally, he points out that lawmakers who are allowed to engage in stock trading have an unfair advantage over the average American as they have access to confidential information that is not available to the general public.
Passing legislation in the Senate can be a challenging task as a minimum of 60 votes are required to move a bill forward. Although Ossoff’s bill garnered support from both sides of the aisle in the Senate committee, its future is uncertain in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a narrow majority.
Despite its lack of support from members of Congress, the American public is in favor of the legislation that would ban stock trading by members of Congress. Various polls have demonstrated that the majority of Americans, regardless of their political affiliations, overwhelmingly agree with this proposal.
In an optimistic tone, Ossoff expressed his desire to have his bill voted on the Senate floor before the November Elections.
