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Senate Democrats block bill to limit lawmakers' stock trades, citing voter ID provision
CBS News • • general
Key Points:
- A Republican-led bill to restrict stock trading by lawmakers failed in the Senate with a 53-47 party-line vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance.
- The Stop Insider Trading Act would bar lawmakers and their families from buying publicly traded stocks and require advance public disclosure of intended sales, but Democrats argue it doesn't go far enough and excludes the executive branch.
- Senate Democrats opposed the bill partly due to a voter ID provision they claim would undermine mail voting, labeling it a "poison pill" attached to the stock-trading restrictions.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended the bill as common-sense legislation to hold Congress accountable, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized it as ineffective and designed to fail.
- The vote was seen as a strategic move by Republicans to put Democrats on record ahead of competitive midterm races that could determine control of the Senate.
