Stop congress insider trading
Members of Congress write the laws, sit in the classified briefings and get the early warnings. And some of them trade stocks. The 2012 STOCK Act said members aren't exempt from insider trading laws and must report trades within 45 days.[1] Disclosing a trade after the fact doesn't stop anyone from making it.
Americans aren't divided on this. In a May 2026 Economist/YouGov poll, 76% said members of Congress shouldn't be allowed to trade individual stocks. Only 6% said they should.[2] The House passed a partial ban in July 2026 that let members keep and later sell the stocks they already own.[3] It stalled in the Senate.[4] We want a real ban: no individual stocks, for members and their spouses, full stop.
Give everyone a member of Congress who knows them
The House has had 435 seats since 1913. A 1929 law froze the number in place.[5] After the 2020 census, each member represents an average of 761,169 people.[6] In the United Kingdom, a member of Parliament represents about 101,000 people; in Germany, about 116,000.[7] Three-quarters of a million people is a lot of constituents for one office to know. The House size is set by an ordinary law, so Congress can change it with an ordinary law.[5]
End the debt ceiling
The debt ceiling doesn't control spending. As the Treasury puts it, "The debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments"; it lets the government pay for obligations Congress already approved.[8] When raising the limit turns into a standoff, everyone pays. The government watchdog GAO estimated that the 2011 delay in raising the limit cost taxpayers about $1.3 billion in extra borrowing costs that year alone.[9] And it doesn't hold anyone back. Congress has suspended the limit eight times since 2013,[10] and the 2025 tax and spending law raised it by $5 trillion.[11] It's a hostage-taking tool. Retire it.
The objection: "Members should be able to invest like anyone else"
They can. Our ban covers individual stocks and leaves broad funds that own a slice of the whole market alone. What members shouldn't do is bet on individual companies whose fortunes they shape with their votes. Three in four Americans, across parties, already agree.[2]
Sources
- Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, Public Law 112-105. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-112publ105/html/PLAW-112publ105.htm
- YouGov, Economist/YouGov poll, May 22-26, 2026. https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54851-most-americans-think-congressional-corruption-is-widespread-may-22-26-2026-economist-yougov-poll
- Washington Sun (NOTUS), on House passage of the stock trading bill, July 22, 2026. https://washingtonsun.com/money/congressional-stock-ban-bill-passes-house?redirected=notus_org
- Roll Call, "Lawmakers' stock trading bill falls short in Senate," September 30, 2026. https://rollcall.com/2026/09/30/lawmakers-stock-trading-bill-falls-short-in-senate/
- Congressional Research Service, "Size of the U.S. House of Representatives" (IN11547). https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IN11547.html
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census apportionment results, April 2021. https://census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/2020-census-data-release.html
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Our Common Purpose, "Enlarging the House." https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/enlarging-the-house/section/7
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, "Debt Limit." https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-institutions-and-fiscal-service/debt-limit
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, "Debt Limit: Analysis of 2011-2012 Actions Taken and Effect of Delayed Increase on Borrowing Costs" (GAO-12-701), July 23, 2012. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-12-701
- Congressional Research Service, "Debt Limit Suspensions" (IN11829). https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IN11829.html
- Public Law 119-21, Section 72001. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/html/PLAW-119publ21.htm