U.S. Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI) has sponsored a new GOP-backed stock trading bill which, according to political pundit Jake Sherman, “basically stipulates that members of Congress can keep their stocks they have when they come to Congress.”
The American people deserve confidence that lawmakers serve their constituents, NOT their own portfolios.
That’s why I’m a cosponsor of the Stop Insider Trading Act to put firm bans on stock trading in Congress.pic.twitter.com/YqaYZNirWA
— Rep. Claudia Tenney (@RepTenney) January 13, 2026
Sherman added: “If they want to sell, they have to give a seven-day notice to liquidate their position then they can sell. Violations come with stiff penalties. STEIL’s bill needs to pass the Senate — good luck — and get signed by the president. This covers members, dependent children and spouses. The legislation does not at all deal with hedge funds, cryptocurrency, real estate. It does not mandate blind trusts. and it does not force members to liquidate any positions when coming to Congress.”
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who in September led a bipartisan coalition including Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to push for the ‘Restore Trust in Congress Act’ that would ban members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks, replied to Sherman: “This is NOT a Congressional stock trading ban. It’s leadership’s attempt to kill the existing bipartisan proposal. Bill is a set of new vehicles and loopholes written by and for the wealthiest members of Congress to evade tracking of their trades. It lets them continue to own, trade, and sell stock – but with less transparency so YOU can no longer track them.”
This is NOT a Congressional stock trading ban. It’s leadership’s attempt to kill the existing bipartisan proposal.
Bill is a set of new vehicles and loopholes written by and for the wealthiest members of Congress to evade tracking of their trades.
It lets them continue to own,… https://t.co/kRbEP1ZbMh
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2026
AOC added: “It allows members with massive holdings to continue to own individual stock and buy using their dividends (!!) – It creates new exceptions for member’s spouses and child dependents to buy ON BEHALF OF OTHER PEOPLE (!!) – Wealthiest members can keep selling stocks.
“If anything, this bill makes it harder for public trackers of member trades to follow member investment activity. And they are hoping that if the public can no longer track their trades, that you will think they are no longer trading.”
The Congresswoman added: “The real, bipartisan stock trading bans bill is already READY…If Luna won’t move the discharge petition’s text, then we can start a clean one next week…Don’t fold now!”
Online economic markets influencer Unusual Whales responded to Ocasio Cortez with a list of prosperous congressional traders, writing “ou may be interested in who were the top performers in 2025…Some had huge gains this year, with conflicts directly with their committees.”
Congressman Steil was positioned at #4 on the list.
@AOC, you may be interested in who were the top performers in 2025.
You can see if they expect to vote for the stock trading bill here.
Some had huge gains this year, with conflicts directly with their committees.
See it here: https://t.co/A2WnnqWyAn
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 13, 2026