Legislation to ban congressional stock trading will restrain greedy New Jersey politicians

Representatives Seth Magaziner, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Chip Roy introduced a bipartisan bill to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks, which could crimp the style of New Jersey lawmakers who used their post to fill their pockets.

The announcement of the new legislation comes after months of negotiations amongst a bipartisan group of the leading voices in the push to ban stock trading in Congress.

Republicans accused Blue Dog Democrat Mikie Sherrill of shady stock trading while Congressman Tom Kean Jr. has come under fire for ethics and transparency surrounding his stock trades.

Kean was elected to Congress in 2022 after brutally attacking his Democratic opponent, then-incumbent Tom Malinowski, for having acted unethically by trading stocks while serving in Congress, which spawned multiple ethics complaints.

Three years after promising to put his assets in a blind trust, the New Jersey Republican failed to move his portfolio into one, citing cumbersome House Ethics Committee rules, according to an NJ Advance Media story by Riley Yates., entitled: Wealthy N.J. congressman promised saintly ethics. He chose getting richer instead, rivals say.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer has also been heavily involved in stock trading and claimed that he turned over management of his investments to a third party. As of November 2025, Gottheimer has still not completed the process of setting up a qualified blind trust, years after pledging to do so in February 2022.

Gottheimer also sold Silicon Valley Bank stock after that bank had signaled deep trouble and one day before regulators seized the lender and topped the list of lawmakers profitting from investments in Pentagon contractors. Kean was number five on that list.

“I don’t believe Members of Congress, judges, or any government employee in a policy role, should be involved in the day-to-day trading of securities, including cryptocurrencies,” said Gottheimer, who traded at least $22 million worth of stock of the top 100 Pentagon contractors, including Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, and IBM.

Microsoft — which received $414 million from the Department of Defense in 2023 for software and cloud computing services — accounted for the vast majority of his trades. Gottheimer simultaneously holds positions on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the National Security subcommittee in the Committee on Financial Services.

Gottheimer made $288.2K in the stock market last month, according to Quiver Quantitative’s live net worth estimates.

Magaziner worked with Roy and a coalition of leaders on this issue, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) to craft the bill that bans stock trading by Members of Congress and creates a strong enforcement structure and penalties.

This is the first time that members who had previously introduced competing bills to ban Congressional stock trading have come together to support a single bill and work together to achieve passage. The lawmakers today held a press conference in the U.S. Capitol to unveil the Restore Trust in Congress Act and call for an immediate vote on the proposal.

The Restore Trust in Congress Act will prohibit Members of Congress, their spouses, dependent children, and trustees from owning, buying, or selling individual stocks, securities, commodities, futures, and other comparable assets.

The Restore Trust in Congress Act was introduced with 16 original cosponsors, eight from each party: Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21), Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02), Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA-10), Rep. Dave Min (D-CA-47), Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA-03), Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX-27), Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA-49), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC-05), and Rep. Josh Riley (D-NY-19).

The legislation is a reconciliation of several existing proposals to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks into one single measure, including Magaziner’s TRUST in Congress Act, introduced earlier this year.

“We must take a strong stand against corruption and end stock trading by members of Congress once and for all,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner. “I have made banning Congressional stock trading a priority through my time in the House, and this bipartisan bill is our best chance at finally getting it done.”

“It’s far past time to ban Members of Congress from day trading stocks, and for the first time, a bipartisan coalition is standing together behind a united proposal to do just that.  The Restore Trust in Congress Act ensures that members of Congress will no longer be able to put the stock market first in their official decisions. This bill strikes a balance between being easy to comply with, but without tons of loopholes for Members to continue trading while on the job.  We must vote on this bill and put this conflict of interest to bed for once and for all. I look forward to seeing the Restore Trust in Congress Act move through the legislative process,” said Rep. Chip Roy. 

“The information we have access to as members of Congress should only be used to serve our constituents, not ourselves. Because of the support of the American people on this issue, we have generated the momentum necessary to be able to introduce the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act. And we look forward to bringing this to the floor and banning the trading of individual stock by members of Congress,” said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

“We are governing in a moment when public trust is at historical lows. Only two in ten Americans trust the government to do what is right for them and they are constantly seeing their elected officials selling them out to the highest bidder. They see the people elected to represent them instead making decisions to increase their own personal wealth. Finally, we are putting the American people first with this bipartisan legislation, which will ban stock trading for Members of Congress and set a new standard of integrity,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal. 

“Ending congressional stock trading has been one of my top priorities every Congress, because it speaks to something bigger than politics: trust. A bipartisan coalition of this magnitude sends a clear message to the American people: we hear you, and we’re taking action to ensure no Member of Congress uses public office for personal gain once and for all. If you’re in Congress, you serve the public interest—not your portfolio. We owe the American people nothing less, and we won’t stop fighting until this bill becomes law,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. 

“The American taxpayer always gets the short end of the stick, while Congress profits at their expense. I hope Congress has the guts to stand up and pass legislation to ban member stock trading,” said Rep. Tim Burchett. 

The full text of the legislation can be found here.