A ban on members of Congress and their families trading or owning stocks got new momentum Wednesday, after a bipartisan group of House members announced they had come to an agreement on a new bill.
The Restore Trust in Congress Act combines several different proposals into one vehicle that supporters say will focus the debate and lead to passage.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., one of the lead sponsors of the bill, said the fact that members of Congress are permitted to trade and own individual stocks makes “people go nuts, because it is crazy to the average person that this has been allowed to go on for so long.”
“We have reached a tipping point where the pressure from outside the building is becoming too much for leadership to deny,” he said during a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday.
The bill’s supporters span the political spectrum – they include hardline conservative Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who is also leading the bill, and Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee; moderate Republicans like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania; and progressive Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
