John,
Congress has sidestepped stock-trading reform for years — but now, a discharge petition is finally forcing members to choose between their own perks and the public interest.
For decades, legislation to stop members of Congress from trading individual stocks has sat on the shelf while they themselves continued to beat the market by 12% overall. That’s untold millions of dollars of gains fueled by their ultimate insider knowledge. Now, for the first time, Congress can no longer look the other way.
The discharge petition — long treated as an obscure procedural anomaly — is now coming into use as a powerful tool for accountability. Now that lawmakers have used it to force the release of the Epstein files over Speaker Mike Johnson’s objections, they are realizing they can wield it to bring legislation to the floor that Johnson has ignored.
This is why Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s new discharge petition for the End Congressional Stock Trading Act is picking up bipartisan momentum. Enough Republicans have already signed that if every Democrat joins them, the bill will go to the floor — and likely pass — whether the so-called leadership likes it or not.
It’s time to pass legislation to prohibit members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks. Send a direct message to your Representative urging them to force a vote to ban congressional stock trading!
The record of congressional stock trades speaks for itself. In any other industry, this would be illegal. To make fair investments without relying on inside information, representatives could buy index funds instead of individual stocks. But Congress, writing the rules for itself, has spent decades protecting its own privileges.
Meanwhile, the public is clear: 86% of Americans support banning members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks. Voters understand what Congress has pretended not to: a system where lawmakers personally profit from decisions they make in office is a racket.
These conflicts of interest are not theoretical. Every individual stock purchase creates a personal stake. Multiply that across hundreds of lawmakers, thousands of trades, countless lobbyists, and every bill that comes before Congress, and it’s no mystery why so many Americans view the institution as corrupt to its core.
This isn’t just a policy debate — it’s about basic fairness. How can the game be fair when the referees are betting on it? How can the public trust leaders who stand to gain financially from outcomes they control?
For years, Congress dodged these questions. But a discharge petition changes the calculus. Now members must choose: stand with the American people, or stand with a broken status quo that benefits their pocketbooks.
Tell your Representative to sign the discharge petition and force a vote on bipartisan legislation to end congressional stock trading.
Thank you for seizing this opportunity to move this crucial congressional reform forward.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
