The penalty for a member of Congress trading stocks on insider information is now $2,000 or 10% of the transaction value — whichever is greater. That's what the House voted 232-198 to impose this week passing the Stop Insider Trading Act and forcing lawmakers to give seven days' public notice before selling a single share.
Thirteen Democrats crossed party lines to vote yes. The rest voted no. Not because they love insider trading but because Republicans artfully stapled a national voter ID requirement for federal elections onto the same bill.
Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, who introduced the legislation back in January, said the bill "ensures that lawmakers cannot use their position to profit off insider information they may garner while serving in Congress." The restrictions cover not just members themselves but their spouses and dependent children. Which is worth noting, because some of the most legendary congressional stock portfolios haven't technically belonged to the members making the trades.
Nancy Pelosi's 40-year trading record remains the gold standard of suspiciously well-timed congressional investing. Her household's stock moves have outperformed most hedge funds for years, a fact that somehow never triggered serious legislative action until now. The Stop Insider Trading Act requires advance public disclosure of intended stock sales — meaning the days of quietly dumping shares the week before a regulation drops are, at least on paper, over.
The voter ID provision requires proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. President Trump has been pushing strict voter-eligibility rules, and House Republicans decided this was the vehicle to move both priorities at once.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called it a trick. "Republicans are trying to pull a trick this week," she said. "They say we are voting on an 'insider trading' bill, but have snuck in massive SAVE Act-style voter suppression measures." Voter suppression, in this case, meaning the requirement that you prove you're a citizen before being allowed to vote in an election. A concept so radical that virtually every other functioning democracy on the planet already does it and more than 70% of Americans support.
Speaker Mike Johnson framed the week in broader terms. "This was obviously a consequential week for House Republicans but it was a very consequential week for the American people," he said. The bill combines two of the most populist policy items in the Republican agenda — ending congressional self-dealing and securing election integrity — into a single vote that forced Democrats to take a position on both.
The strategy was straightforward. Put two things the public overwhelmingly supports into one bill. Make the opposition vote against both on camera. And it worked exactly as designed — 198 Democrats went on record voting to preserve congressional stock trading rather than accept voter ID.
The Senate gets it next. The trading restrictions alone would probably pass with bipartisan support. The voter ID provision is the poison pill for Democrats, which tells you everything about which party's coalition depends on people who can't prove they're allowed to vote.
Two hundred and thirty-two to one hundred and ninety-eight. The margin wasn't close. The excuses will be.