The STOCK Act and the Congressional Stock-Trading Ban, Explained
· Updated
The STOCK Act doesn't stop members of Congress from trading stocks. It makes them disclose trades on a delay, and the usual penalty for filing late is a $200 fee.
Watch it play outTrade now, disclose within 45 days, pay $200 if late
A member of Congress buys a stock. The STOCK Act doesn't stop the trade.
It requires disclosure instead: trades over $1,000 are reported within 30 days of learning of them.
And never later than 45 days after the trade, however late the filer finds out.
Miss the deadline and the usual House penalty is a $200 fee. Disclosure, not a ban.
The Stop Insider Trading Act (H.R. 7008), which would bar new stock purchases, passed the House in July 2026. As of September 20, 2026 it sits on the Senate calendar and is not law. Its minimum penalty would be ten times the STOCK Act's minimum late fee, and a worked example below shows how it scales from there.
The short version
Disclosure, not a ban. Trades over $1,000 must be reported within 30 days of learning of them, and never later than 45 days after.
Watch it play outThe ban bill's minimum penalty is ten STOCK Act late fees
File a trade report late under the STOCK Act and the minimum House fee is $200.
H.R. 7008's minimum penalty would be ten of those fees.
Together they make $2,000, the floor for buying a covered stock in violation. Circles are sized by amount.
And it scales: the greater of $2,000 or 10% of the transaction, plus any net gain.
Source: Congress.gov, H.R. 7008; House Committee on Ethics
Small routine penalty. A late House filing carries a minimum $200 fee. Criminal penalties exist but are rarely invoked.
The ban bill. H.R. 7008 would stop members, spouses, and dependent children buying covered investments. It passed the House 232-198 and is Senate Calendar No. 548.
Watch it play outThe purchase ban cleared the House and stopped at the Senate
H.R. 7008 would stop members, spouses and dependent children from buying covered investments.
The House passed it 232 to 198. Circles are sized by votes.
Then it went to the Senate.
As of September 20, 2026 it sits on the Senate calendar as No. 548. It is not law.
Source: Congress.gov
What does the STOCK Act require?
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, Public Law 112-105, was approved on April 4, 2012 (full text). Five provisions matter for reading trade data:
Section
What it does
Section 4
Members and employees of Congress "are not exempt from the insider trading prohibitions arising under the securities laws." Amends the Securities Exchange Act so each owes a duty of trust and confidence to Congress, the government, and citizens over material nonpublic information (market-moving facts the public lacks) gained through the job.
Section 6
Adds transaction reporting: a reportable trade must be filed "not later than 30 days after receiving notification" of it, "but in no case later than 45 days after such transaction."
Section 8
Requires the House Clerk and the Senate to post disclosures online and build searchable, sortable, downloadable public databases.
Section 14
Exempts widely held, diversified investment funds where the filer has no control over holdings.
Section 15
Extends pension-forfeiture rules to cover securities-fraud felonies.
None creates a standalone trading ban.
Check the claimThree claims about congressional trading rules
Who has to file?
Under Title I of the Ethics in Government Act, as amended by the STOCK Act, House members, officers, and certain senior employees must disclose transactions "over $1,000 for certain securities." The deadline is the earlier of 30 days from learning of the trade or 45 days from the trade.
Hypothetical example, counting days from the trade:
Filer learns of the trade on
30 days after that
45-day cap
Deadline
Day 0
Day 30
Day 45
Day 30
Day 10
Day 40
Day 45
Day 40
Day 25
Day 55
Day 45
Day 45
The later a filer learns of a trade, for example one in a spouse's account, the more the 45-day cap matters.
Learn of a trade late and the 45-day cap takes over
TradeDay 0
Filer learns of itDay 25
Deadline: 45-day capDay 45
30 days after learningDay 55
Day 0Day 15Day 30Day 45Day 60
Hypothetical, counting days from the trade. The earlier of the two limits binds.
Spotted it.Not that line.The spouse's stock purchase. That's why a tracker row under a member's name may describe a spouse's account: check the owner code.
Source: House Committee on Ethics, 2025 Instruction Guide
The Committee's 2025 Instruction Guide lists what does not go on a PTR:
transfers solely between the filer and a spouse or dependent children
Thrift Savings Plan assets
stock splits
Spouse and dependent-child trades are reportable and carry an owner code, so a tracker row under a member's name may describe a spouse's account.
Senators file under the same statute with the Secretary of the Senate. The Senate Select Committee on Ethics keeps its own financial-disclosure guidance, including Senate Rule 34 and a memo on periodic-transaction requirements.
What are the penalties for a late or missing filing?
The usual consequence is small; larger penalties are rarely invoked. All three are described in the House Ethics Committee's 2025 Instruction Guide, linked from its instruction-guide page:
Violation
Penalty
Basis
Late PTR
Minimum $200 fee; multiple late PTRs can add more
House Ethics Instruction Guide
Knowingly and willfully falsifying or failing to file
Civil or criminal penalties; criminal maximum of one year in prison and a fine of up to $75,540
Ethics in Government Act, pursued by the Attorney General
Materially false statement in a filing
Fines up to $250,000 and five years' imprisonment
18 U.S.C. § 1001
The late fee is paid by personal check or money order to the United States Treasury, never from campaign funds, and the Committee can waive it in extraordinary circumstances.
So a "late filing" tag on a tracker usually means a $200 fee, not an insider-trading finding. Insider-trading liability runs through the securities laws and the SEC, not the disclosure form.
The routine penalty is the smallest one
False statement18 U.S.C. § 1001$250,000, 5 years
Willful failure to fileOr falsifying; Attorney General$75,540, 1 year
Late PTRThe usual consequence$200 fee
Maximum fine and prison term for the two serious violations; the late fee is a minimum.Source: House Committee on Ethics, 2025 Instruction Guide
Where are the filings published?
Section 8 is why public trackers exist. It required both chambers to post forms online within 30 days of filing, in systems that let the public "search, sort, and download" the data.
Up to 45 days to file, then up to 30 more to post
Member trades (Over $1,000) to PTR filed (Within 30 or 45 days)
PTR filed (Within 30 or 45 days) to Posted online (Clerk or Senate eFD): Within 30 days
Posted online (Clerk or Senate eFD) to Public trackers (Search, sort, download)
House: the Clerk's Financial Disclosure Reports database cites Section 8 as its authority and offers year-by-year bulk downloads from 2008 through 2026.
Senate: the Electronic Financial Disclosure system, eFD, holds reports for senators, former senators, and Senate candidates filed from 2012 to the present. Senator reports stay up for six years after the member leaves Congress.
Before searching eFD, you must accept a statement quoting 5 U.S.C. app. § 105(c), which makes it unlawful to use a report for a commercial purpose (other than news media), for credit decisions, or for soliciting money, with a civil penalty of up to $10,000. That clause is the legal backdrop for every commercial tracker.
Member research: Every filing here is public information, and so is everything a company reports. Our retrospective case studies show how far public evidence alone could take an investor; Micron as of December 18, 2025, for example, tests an HBM capacity thesis using only what was public on that date.
What would the Stop Insider Trading Act change?
Rep. Bryan Steil introduced H.R. 7008 on January 12, 2026. The Committee on House Administration reported it on February 3, 2026 (H. Rept. 119-479). The House-passed engrossed text adds a new subchapter to Title 5:
Purchases banned. "No covered individual may purchase a covered investment." Covered individuals are members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children. A covered investment is a security issued by a publicly traded company, or a comparable interest.
Sales allowed, with notice. A member must file a public notice of intent to sell at least 7 and no more than 14 calendar days ahead, giving the projected date, a description, and the share count.
Penalty. The greater of $2,000 or ten percent of the transaction value, plus any net gain, and anything bought in violation must be sold.
Timing. The trading rules take effect 180 days after enactment.
It stops short of divestiture: members needn't sell what they own, and the congress.gov summary notes exemptions for widely held funds and certain trusts.
H.R. 7008 would turn disclosure into a purchase ban
STOCK Act today
Trading allowed
Trades over $1,000 disclosed within 30 or 45 days
Late filing: $200 minimum fee
vs
H.R. 7008 as passed by the House
No new purchases by members, spouses or dependent children
Sales need public notice 7 to 14 days ahead
Penalty: greater of $2,000 or 10%, plus any net gain
No forced selling of existing holdings
Takes effect 180 days after enactment
The engrossed text also has a Section 3 unrelated to trading: a photo-ID requirement for voting in federal elections, amending the Help America Vote Act. Both provisions travel together in the version now before the Senate.
Worked example: how the proposed penalty scales
Hypothetical example: a member buys a covered stock in violation of H.R. 7008 and later sells it at a gain. The penalty is the greater of $2,000 or 10% of the transaction value, plus any net gain.
Purchase size
10% of purchase
Greater of $2,000 or 10%
Hypothetical net gain
Total owed
$10,000
$1,000
$2,000
$1,000
$3,000
$20,000
$2,000
$2,000
$2,000
$4,000
$100,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$20,000
Three things fall out of the arithmetic:
The $2,000 floor applies to any purchase up to $20,000, because $2,000 ÷ 10% = $20,000.
The floor alone is 10 times the STOCK Act's $200 minimum late fee ($2,000 ÷ $200).
Adding back the net gain means a violating trade can't come out ahead on paper, and the member must still sell the investment.
Try the proposed penalty on a violating trade
Pick a purchase size and the gain on the stock
Total owed under H.R. 7008$2,000$3,000$4,000$2,000$4,000$6,000$5,000$10,000$15,000$10,000$20,000$30,000
+$1,800+$2,800+$3,800+$1,800+$3,800+$5,800+$4,800+$9,800+$14,800+$9,800+$19,800+$29,800above STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late feeabove STOCK Act minimum late fee
STOCK Act minimum late fee$200
$2,000$30,000
Hypothetical. The greater of $2,000 or 10% of the purchase, plus the net gain; the investment must still be sold.
The sale-notice rule has its own window. Hypothetical: for a sale planned on day 30, notice must go out no earlier than day 16 (30 − 14) and no later than day 23 (30 − 7).
Make a guess
Spot on.Close, a little low.Close, a little high.Way off, too low.Way off, too high. It was 13.
13 Democrats voted yes, with 218 Republicans and 1 independent. 198 Democrats voted no, and no Republican opposed the bill.
Source: House roll call 280, July 22, 2026
Where H.R. 7008 stands
As of September 20, 2026, the bill has passed the House, has not passed the Senate, and is not law. The congress.gov bill page, retrieved through the Congress.gov API, shows:
July 22, 2026: passed the House "by the Yeas and Nays: 232 - 198 (Roll no. 280)," after a motion to recommit failed 211-218.
July 23: received in the Senate.
August 5: read the first time.
August 6: "read the second time" and "placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 548." This is the latest action.
Fourteen years from disclosure to a House-passed ban
Apr 4, 2012STOCK Act approvedPublic Law 112-105
Jan 12, 2026H.R. 7008 introducedRep. Bryan Steil
Feb 3, 2026Reported by committeeH. Rept. 119-479
Jul 22, 2026Passes the House232–198
Jul 23, 2026Received in the Senate
Aug 6, 2026Calendar No. 548Latest action
Source: Congress.gov
The Clerk's roll-call record splits the vote: 218 Republicans and 1 independent in favor, no Republican opposed; Democrats 13 in favor, 198 opposed, 1 not voting. No Senate committee referral, floor vote, or presidential action appears in the record, and we found no scheduled Senate vote.
Democrats cast every vote against the bill
IndependentRepublicansDemocrats
501001502002500
232
YeasIndependent1Republicans218Democrats13Total232
198
NaysIndependent0Republicans0Democrats198Total198
YeasNays
Yeas: 218 Republicans, 13 Democrats and 1 independent. One Democrat did not vote.Source: House roll call 280, July 22, 2026
What this means for trade data
Nothing in current law stops a sitting member from trading individual stocks. While H.R. 7008 remains unpassed, disclosures will keep arriving up to 45 days late and in value ranges, so a disclosed trade can't be treated as a real-time signal.
The politician-trades directory and the most-active members ranking show filing lag per trade and flag rows filed after the 45-day deadline. The congressional-trades dataset keeps the original filing URL on every row, so you can check range, owner, and dates against the House Clerk PDF or Senate eFD report. Coverage includes House filings and electronically filed Senate reports for 2025–2026.
Try it yourself
Test the rules on a real filing in about 10 minutes.
Open the most-active members ranking and pick a member with a trade flagged as filed after the 45-day deadline.
Note the transaction date and filing date, and subtract to get the lag. How many days past 45 was it?
Follow the filing link to the House Clerk PDF or Senate eFD report and check the owner code. Was it the member, a spouse, or a dependent child?
Apply H.R. 7008's text: if this was a purchase of a publicly traded stock, it would be banned unless an exemption applied; if it was a sale, it would have needed notice 7 to 14 days ahead.
You should now be able to answer: was this trade on time, whose was it, and would the proposed ban have allowed it?
Our read
The STOCK Act made congressional trading visible without restricting it. With a $200 minimum fee as the routine penalty, a late filing costs a member little, so treat a late flag as a data point about diligence, not evidence of wrongdoing.
If H.R. 7008 or a broader ban becomes law, new purchase disclosures would shrink. Sales notices and existing-holding disclosures would continue; executive-branch filers are untouched by the bill's text. What we'd watch:
Senate floor action on Calendar No. 548
whether the voter-ID section stays attached
the 180-day clock, which starts only on enactment
Questions readers ask
Can members of Congress trade stocks?
Yes. The STOCK Act requires them to disclose trades over $1,000 within the 30- and 45-day limits, but it does not ban trading. H.R. 7008 would ban new purchases, and it is not law.
Does the STOCK Act ban insider trading by members?
It confirms that the existing insider-trading laws apply to them. Section 4 says members and employees "are not exempt" and owe a duty of trust and confidence over nonpublic information gained through the job. Enforcement runs through the securities laws and the SEC, not the disclosure form.
Would H.R. 7008 force members to sell what they already own?
No. It bans new purchases of covered investments and requires public notice before sales, but it doesn't require divestiture. The congress.gov summary also notes exemptions for widely held funds and certain trusts.
Does the proposed ban cover spouses?
Yes. Covered individuals are members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children. That matters because spouse trades already show up in today's filings under an owner code.
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