Merkley Blasts Senate Republicans for Blocking His Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading

Merkley Blasts Senate Republicans for Blocking His Bill to Ban Congressional Stock Trading October 1, 2026 Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked his Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act : “Members of Congress are elected to serve the people, not their portfolios. “Rather than crack down on Congressional stock trading, Senate Republicans not only blocked my comprehensive legislation to ban this deeply corrupt practice, but they also put up a partisan, fatally flawed bill that doesn’t cover the President and would only prevent members of Congress from buying stocks, allowing them to still sell and hold stocks and perpetuating a clear conflict of interest. “There should be no question about whether a lawmaker is voting on or writing legislation in the best interest of their constituents or the best interest of their investments. We need a real ban on Congressional stock trading, and I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work with us on meaningful and decisive action to ban this flagrant conflict of interest once and for all.” On Wednesday, Merkley took to the Senate Floor in an attempt to pass his ETHICS Act , which would ban members of Congress, the President, the Vice President, and their spouses and dependent children from buying, selling, and holding stocks and other covered investments. Full text of the ETHICS Act can be found by clicking here . Merkley has been leading the charge to end Congressional stock trading for over a decade. In 2012, Merkley and former Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) led an effort to add an amendment to the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act banning trading by members of Congress. In 2023, Merkley first introduced the ETHICS Act , which later became the first-ever bill banning Congressional stock trading to advance out of a Senate committee. The ETHICS Act was the basis for similar bipartisan legislation that also advanced out of committee in the Republican-controlled Senate this Congress. ###