According to the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, 86% of Americans want to ban stock trading in Congress. As elected representatives, our duty is to serve the people, not enrich ourselves. So if nearly 9 out of 10 Americans demand this reform, why hasn’t it become law?
We know the answer: Because the suits in Washington will never vote to limit their own power. They’d rather pad their pockets than honor the will of the people.
But 2025 is different. As a Washington outsider, I was not elected to Congress to protect the status quo. I was elected to shake it up. That’s why I’ve taken up the fight to ban stock trading for members of Congress. In Washington, I see the corruption firsthand, and I know if I don’t fight for this now while Republicans have a majority (slim at that), it will never get done.
For too long, members of Congress have treated public office as a ticket to personal fortune. While everyday Americans struggle to pay bills, Washington insiders have been using their positions to play the stock market, with insider information that the public will never have access to. That is corruption, and it is one of the biggest reasons why trust in our government is at an all-time low. By ending stock trading in Congress, we can begin to rebuild the trust that has been broken.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her husband saw their net worth rise to between $250 million and possibly over $400 million while she made a six-figure salary in Congress, according to reporting from the New York Post and market research firm Quiver Quantitative. She is not the only one. Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress have profited immensely from a system that puts their personal financial interests ahead of the American people. Congress should never be a get-rich-quick scheme for politicians who failed to cut it on Wall Street.
That is why I am a fierce advocate for the Restore Trust in Congress Act. The bill bans members of Congress, their spouses and their dependents from trading or owning individual stocks and other assets that conflict with their duty to serve the American people. It has overwhelming bipartisan support with 28 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, including Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Seth Magaziner, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chip Roy, Brian Fitzpatrick and many others.
Yet, predictably, the Washington establishment is doing everything it can to block this bill. Leadership in both parties has tried to bury the legislation, hoping the American people will forget. But we will not forget, and we will not stop fighting. Congress has a moral obligation to act. And if this bill is not brought to the floor, I am prepared to force a vote by signing a discharge petition, which means every member of Congress will have to go on record, either standing with the people or for corruption.
This fight is bigger than one party, one chamber or one election. I stand alongside my colleagues from both sides of the aisle on this issue. We may not agree on every issue, but we agree on this: Corruption has no place in Congress.
Strong values like fairness, honesty and accountability are not Republican or Democratic; they are American. And the people deserve representatives who live by those values.
To my colleagues who are still on the fence: The American people are watching. They will remember who stood up to corruption and who protected the swamp. There is no hiding from this vote. Either you believe Congress should serve the people, or you believe Congress should serve itself.
The choice is clear. It is time to pass the Restore Trust in Congress Act. It is time to ban congressional stock trading and deliver this win to the American people, once and for all.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna serves in Florida’s 13th congressional district. Luna, a Republican, is a member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the chairwoman of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets and is a U.S. Air Force veteran.
