Senators reach agreement to push legislation to ban stock trading among members of Congress

WASHINGTON - Four senators reached a bipartisan agreement Wednesday to advance legislation that would ban stock trading among members of Congress, their spouses and their dependents.

The agreement was reached by Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Josh Hawley, R-Mo. and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, according to a news release. The legislation would build off of Merkley’s ETHICS Act and immediately prohibit congressional lawmakers “from buying stocks and other covered investments” and from selling stocks 90 days after enactment.

It also requires congressional members, the president and vice president to “divest from all covered investments” starting in 2027, according to the release.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will take up the legislation during a business meeting on July 24th.

“The public should be confident that federal elected officials are making decisions that are in the best interests of the American people, not their own personal finances,” Peters, who serves as the chairman of the committee said in the news release.

“I appreciate the leadership from Senators Merkley, Hawley and Ossoff on this important issue, and I’m grateful to them for working closely with me to draft this bipartisan, commonsense agreement that strengthens accountability for the public and prevents bad actors from taking advantage of their positions for their personal financial gain,” he added.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senators reach agreement to push legislation to ban stock trading among members of Congress