Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments (PELOSI) Act

This plan bans members of Congress and their spouses from owning, buying, or selling most financial investments while the member is in office. People already in office get 180 days after the law takes effect to sell what they’re not allowed to hold. Anyone who takes office later gets 180 days from their first day to do the same. If they break the rules, they must give up any profit from the deal to the U.S. Treasury and can face civil fines set by their ethics committee .

Members must file a yearly statement saying they follow the rules, and those statements will be posted online. Ethics committees can set rules, give short extensions if someone is clearly trying to comply, and fine members who don’t. If a member keeps ignoring the rules after being warned, the committee must issue repeating fines at least every 30 days. Each fine equals 10% of the value of the investment that wasn’t sold during that period. The committees also have to post details about fines online, and a member can appeal a fine to a vote in their chamber. Two years after the law starts, the Government Accountability Office will audit how well members followed it .

• Who is affected: Members of Congress and their spouses
• What changes: No holding, buying, or selling covered financial instruments during a member’s service; yearly public compliance certifications; fines and public posting of violations; possible extensions for good-faith efforts
• When: 180 days to sell restricted investments (from enactment for current members; from first day in office for new members); ongoing monthly fines for continued noncompliance; federal audit within two years of enactment