House Democrats have introduced the Restore Trust in Government Act, a bill that would ban members of Congress, the president, vice president, cabinet members, and their close family members from owning or trading individual stocks. Under current law, the 2012 STOCK Act only requires disclosure. Lawmakers still get to trade. Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, who’s leading the push, points to millions made off insider trading since January of last year.
Republicans aren’t sitting on the sidelines. The GOP-led House passed the Stop Insider Trading Act on July 22, largely along party lines. But Democrats call that bill a Trojan horse: it still allows stock ownership, excludes the executive branch, and bundles in new voting requirements borrowed from the SAVE America Act. It’s a rare issue where both parties are racing to claim the same reform. The details are where they split.
For Suncoast retirees and snowbirds living on pensions and investments, this isn’t abstract. If elected officials can trade on what they learn behind closed doors, it chips away at the idea that the system works the same for everyone. Neither bill is law yet, and the road ahead is long. What do you think: should Congress be allowed to trade individual stocks at all?
