Sponsors (4)
The bill trades stronger conflict-of-interest protections for Members of Congress — improving public trust by forcing divestment of many holdings — against real financial, liquidity, and enforcement burdens on Members and their families.
Members of Congress and their families: reduces conflicts of interest by requiring divestment of most individual securities, lowering the risk that lawmakers' personal holdings influence official actions.
Members of Congress and their families: preserves the ability to hold broadly diversified mutual funds/index funds and Treasury securities so they can keep simple, low-conflict investments.
Members of Congress and their families: provides a tax-safe pathway to divestment (permitted swaps) so officials can move into allowed assets without an immediate tax hit when following the rules.
Members of Congress and their families: forced divestment deadlines (short windows like 90–180 days for many assets) can force sales that realize taxable gains or lock in losses, harming household finances.
Members of Congress and their families: civil penalties (up to $100,000 per violation) and other enforcement remedies create risk of heavy financial and legal burdens, including for inadvertent breaches.
Owners of private fund interests (hedge funds, venture capital, private equity) including some Members: extended permitted holding periods (up to 5 years) create illiquidity and valuation challenges because secondary markets are limited.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits Members of Congress and their spouses/dependent children from owning or trading most securities and requires divestment within specified deadlines, with limited exceptions.
Introduced March 6, 2025 by Timothy Burchett · Last progress March 6, 2025
Prohibits Members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children from owning or trading most stocks, bonds, commodities, futures, and other securities, and requires them to divest prohibited assets within set deadlines. The bill allows limited exceptions (e.g., diversified widely held funds, U.S. Treasury securities, qualified retirement plans, certain small business interests) and gives longer divestment windows (up to 5 years) for interests in hedge funds, venture capital, and other privately held complex investment vehicles.