Democrats scrap plan to vote on stock trading ban before elections

House Democrats have scrapped a tentative plan to move this month on legislation barring lawmakers from trading stocks — a vote sought by some Democrats heading into the midterm elections.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that there was not enough time for lawmakers to study the details of the proposal, which had been introduced just two days earlier, before the House leaves Washington Friday for the long midterm recess.

“People have to look at it,” Hoyer told reporters gathered in his office in the Capitol.

“It’s an important issue,” he continued, and leaders want the extra time “to make sure that if and when we do something, we do it right.”

The announcement is a departure from comments made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) earlier in the month, when she indicated the negotiations were going well “and we believe we have a product that we can bring to the floor this month.” 

It’s also certain to anger those Democrats who were pressing to vote on a reform proposal — one that’s popular among voters — before November’s elections. Some supporters of the legislation said this week that the true reason the vote was punted was that Democratic leaders simply don’t support the concept of banning lawmakers from owning and trading stocks.  

Pelosi and Hoyer have been among those prominent opponents, noting that federal law already prohibits insider trading and warning that a special ban for members of Congress might dissuade talented people from running for office.

Yet the proposal has gained enormous momentum in the current Congress following revelations that scores of lawmakers have violated existing laws designed to eliminate conflicts of interest between legislators and the investments they pursue. 

Even if no laws are violated, supporters of the ban say, the current system can create the damaging perception lawmakers are trading on information not available to the general public or crafting legislation to boost their own finances.

Public opinion polls conducted this year indicate overwhelming support for the stock ban, with approval numbers hovering above 70 percent. This week, a survey conducted by Data for Progress, a liberal advocacy group, put the approval number at 80 percent, including 75 percent of both Republicans and independents. 

That pressure from within the caucus forced Pelosi to have a change of heart earlier in the year, when she directed Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), chair of the House Administration Committee, to draft a stock ban proposal based on “where the support is in our caucus.” 

After months of negotiations, Lofgren released that proposal on Tuesday night. The wide-ranging legislation prohibits stock trades not only by members of Congress, but also their spouses and dependent children, senior congressional aids, the president, the vice president and high-ranking members of the judicial branch, including Supreme Court justices. 

On Capitol Hill, support for the stock ban comes from a diverse bipartisan coalition, from moderates like GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) to liberals like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

But some of the loudest calls for a pre-November vote have come from Democrats facing tough reelection contests and want to notch a victory to take home this month for campaigning. That list includes Democratic Reps. Jared Golden (Maine), Katie Porter (Calif.), Angie Craig (Minn.) and Abigail Spanberger (Va.). 

While some supporters of the bill wanted the opportunity to vote on it before the elections, Lofgren said Thursday that the exact timing of the House vote — before the midterms or after — is insignificant. 

“In a way it doesn’t matter,” she said, “because the Senate’s not gonna be able to act before the election.” 

Mychael Schnell contributed.