House passes Stop Insider Trading Act, 232–198; bill includes voter-ID provision

The House of Representatives voted 232–198 on July 22, 2026, to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act, after a floor debate in which the two parties clashed sharply over both the bill’s stock-trading provisions and a voter-identification measure attached to it. One member did not vote.

The measure, formally H.R. 7008, would prohibit members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependent children, from purchasing individual stocks and other covered investments, such as securities issued by publicly traded companies. Before selling a covered investment, a member would have to file public notice of the intent to sell — between 7 and 14 days in advance — with the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, who would publish the notice online. Certain holdings would be exempt, including interests in widely held investment funds and certain assets held in a trust. Violations would carry a fee equal to the greater of $2,000 or 10% of the transaction’s value, plus any net gain realized, and members could not pay the fee using campaign funds or their official allowances.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, urged colleagues to support it as a step toward restoring public trust. Steil said that under the bill, members, their spouses and their dependent children would be prevented from purchasing individual companies’ shares of stock, and that a member arriving in Congress with stock could sell it after giving seven days’ advance notice. He argued that the existing STOCK Act of 2012 requires disclosure of trades only a month after the fact, and said the bill would stop members of Congress from trading individual stocks. Republican supporters, including Representatives Mike Lawler of New York, Mark Alford of Missouri and Zach Nunn of Iowa, echoed the argument that lawmakers should not profit from stock trading while in office.

Much of the debate, however, centered on the fact that the bill also contained a voter-identification provision. Steil said the bill was coupled with what he called the Voter ID Act, which he described as requiring voters to show photo identification when casting a ballot in federal elections, noting that 24 states already require some form of photo ID to vote.

Democrats opposed the combined bill on two fronts. On the stock-trading language, Representative Joseph Morelle of New York, the ranking member, argued that the measure was not a genuine ban. Morelle said the Stop Insider Trading Act was not a stock trading ban, and that the bill would let members of Congress keep every share of stock they own and liquidate holdings at any time, with no divestiture required. He also contended that members could still influence and profit from stock they already owned, and that the bill did not address trading by the President.

Democrats also objected strongly to the voter-ID provision. Morelle described the bill as a crude combination of two unrelated bills, and said the voter-ID language would create a more restrictive regime than any currently in use, forcing voters to include photocopies of their ID when mailing a ballot and taking effect roughly 90 days before the November midterm election. Representative Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island called the bill a trap, saying House Republicans were pushing a voter suppression bill and using the Stop Insider Trading Act title to win support for it. Magaziner said he would offer a motion to recommit the bill and that he would have sought to replace it with the Restore Trust in Government Act, a Democratic proposal to fully ban stock trading by members of Congress and the executive branch.

Some members voiced frustration that the two issues had been joined. Representative Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania said she supported both voter ID and banning congressional stock trading but opposed the bill because it was not an honest attempt to do either, saying its stock-trading provisions did not go far enough and that Republicans had rejected her amendments. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois said he rose in opposition, calling for an up-or-down vote on a bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading.

Representative Chip Roy of Texas, a Republican who had worked on the stock-trading issue, said he would vote for the bill while also expressing a preference for a standalone vote. Roy said he was proud of the legislation and considered it a giant step forward, while adding that he thought there should be a straight up-or-down vote on the stock trading bill.

The bill was introduced by Steil in January 2026 and drew 93 cosponsors. Following debate, Magaziner offered a motion to recommit the bill. After the House passed the measure, it was received in the Senate and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, where it awaits further action.

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