By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 - The US Senate on Wednesday blocked legislation placing new restrictions on stock trading by members of Congress, as Democrats refused to provide enough votes to advance the measure toward passage, arguing that it falls short of a full ban.
By a vote of 53-47, the Senate halted a Republican drive to open debate on the partisan bill, which was passed in July by the House of Representatives. Sixty affirmative votes were needed to get the legislation over a Senate procedural
hurdle.
The bill's failure, coupled with the Senate defeat of unrelated legislation aimed at tamping down households' rising electricity costs, nonetheless gives Republicans hopes of delivering a new line of attack against Democrats in the closing weeks of the November 3 midterm election campaigns.
For years, voters have expressed outrage over the thousands of stock trades by lawmakers that many argue are improper given lawmakers' privileged position.
Members of Congress shape legislation, often behind closed doors, and at the same time execute trades on stocks and bonds whose prices could be affected by actions in the House and Senate.
The legislation also contained a Republican provision to tighten requirements on photo IDs needed to vote in American elections - language Democrats labeled a "poison pill" they said would make it more difficult for eligible citizens to vote in federal elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a press conference on Tuesday that the bill's provisions "strike at the very heart of issues that the American people care deeply about."
The "Stop Insider Trading Act" would prohibit members of Congress, spouses and dependent children from buying stocks of publicly traded companies. But Democrats bridled over their ability to keep stocks they already hold, let them use dividends to buy more shares and allow spouses or children to trade on their behalf.
With several Republicans' campaigns for the House and Senate appearing to teeter on defeat, party leaders orchestrated the vote to demonstrate that they were addressing voters' concerns. The effort comes at a time when large numbers of Americans are chafing over high energy prices caused by the Iran war, and high interest rates making borrowing difficult.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer led the revolt against the bill.
"Another desperate Republican attempt to pretend they're fighting corruption when what they really want is to score political points because they know they're drowning in their campaigns," Schumer told reporters.
Many Democrats are on record favoring a total ban on stock trading by members of Congress, with some wanting to extend that to the president, other members of the executive branch and to the US Supreme Court.
A December study by Common Cause found that last year members of Congress from both parties executed 13,324 trades totaling $635.6 million.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump notched 21,000 securities trades in 2025, according to media reports in July, which grew his accounts to over $850 million.
The Republican president repeatedly has argued that record stock prices were proof that his policies were working, even though many Americans struggling to deal with high living costs are not invested in the stock market at all.
The fight over how far to go on stock trades comes in the midst of campaigns leading up to the November 3 midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans or Democrats have control next year in each chamber of Congress.
Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by David Gaffen, Susan Heavey and David Gregorio)
