The PELOSI Act: Proposed Ban on Congressional Stock Trading
February 6, 2025
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
Where This Stands
Currently in_committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →The Frame
If passed, this bill would force members of Congress and their spouses to divest from individual financial investments, fundamentally changing how they manage personal wealth while serving in office.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Members of Congress
They would be prohibited from holding or trading individual financial instruments and would be required to divest or use blind trusts.
Spouses of Members of Congress
They would be subject to the same investment restrictions as the members themselves.
Government Accountability Office
They are mandated to conduct an audit of congressional compliance two years after the bill's enactment.
Current stage: in_committee.
Floor Vote.
Summary
Key Facts
- Prohibits members of Congress and their spouses from holding, buying, or selling 'covered financial instruments' during their term of service.
- Defines 'covered financial instruments' as individual securities, security futures, commodities, and synthetic derivatives.
- Excludes diversified mutual funds, diversified exchange-traded funds (ETFs), U.S. Treasury securities, and compensation from a spouse's primary occupation from the ban.
- Allows members 180 days to divest or move assets into a qualified blind trust after taking office or the bill's enactment.
- Requires members to submit annual written certifications of compliance to their respective ethics committees.
- Mandates that ethics committees publish all compliance certifications on a public website.
- Requires members to disgorge any profits made from prohibited transactions to the U.S. Treasury.
- Authorizes ethics committees to assess civil fines for violations, with a right to appeal to the full House or Senate floor.
- Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit congressional compliance two years after the bill becomes law.
- Requires ethics committees to publish details of any fines assessed, including reasons and outcomes of hearings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can members of Congress still own mutual funds or ETFs?
What happens if a member of Congress violates these rules?
Does this apply to the spouse of a member of Congress?
Why It Matters
If passed, this bill would force members of Congress and their spouses to divest from individual financial investments, fundamentally changing how they manage personal wealth while serving in office.
News Coverage
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Ethics Oversight
The bill shifts the role of ethics committees from purely advisory/investigative to active enforcement of specific asset-holding prohibitions.
Connected Entities
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment40Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools