Overview
- At a House Administration hearing, a bipartisan coalition urged action on the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would bar members and their families from owning or trading individual stocks.
- Committee Chair Bryan Steil declined to commit to a markup and deferred to Speaker Mike Johnson, keeping the bill’s path to the floor uncertain.
- Rep. Anna Paulina Luna warned she will file a discharge petition if leaders stall and criticized talk of a watered-down alternative as having “no teeth.”
- The House compromise excludes the executive and judicial branches, forbids blind trusts, and offers tax deferral if members reinvest divested proceeds into diversified funds.
- Witnesses highlighted weak enforcement of the 2012 STOCK Act, and separate Senate action remains stalled after controversy over forcing the president and vice president to divest.