The legislation – rolled out by Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) – would prevent lawmakers from buying stocks and other types of financial assets while also blocking them from offloading stocks 90 days after the law’s enactment.
It would apply to spouses and dependent children starting in 2027 and would also extend to the president and vice president.
Investments would include securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts and other comparable holdings, according to a summary of the legislation provided by Ossoff’s office.
The bill will be considered by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in a hearing later this month, Ossoff’s office said in a Wednesday release.
Penalties for failing to comply with the divestment requirements are to exceed either the monthly salary of the government official or 10 percent of the value of each asset — whichever is higher.
Stock trading by both elected and unelected government officials has been an increasing focus of ethics watchdogs and others concerned about members of the federal government profiting from insider information.
The Wall Street Journal won the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for a lengthy series on regulators, who traded stocks as the pandemic hit and bought and sold stocks for companies that were under their direct regulatory authority.
The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here.
