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Luna Files Discharge Petition to Force House Vote on Congressional Stock-Trading Ban

06:08 AM, 12/03/2025

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna filed a discharge petition to force a House vote on the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would require lawmakers to divest stock holdings or place them in blind trusts. The petition needs 218 signatures to compel floor action, though House leaders could still try to nullify the move with a later majority vote. Supporters point to watchdog findings of unusually high returns on some congressional trades; opponents cite concerns about pay and unintended consequences. The House Administration Committee recently examined the STOCK Act but has not advanced new legislation.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) filed a discharge petition on Tuesday aimed at bypassing House Republican leadership to compel a floor vote on legislation that would bar members of Congress and their immediate family members from trading individual stocks while in office.

The petition seeks to bring up the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act, a measure introduced earlier this year that would require lawmakers to divest stock holdings or place assets in a blind trust to prevent conflicts of interest.

“We have decided because of a lack of movement from the House of Representatives to initiate the discharge petition on banning insider trading,” Luna said in a video posted to social media. “If leadership wants to put forward a bill that would actually do that and end the corruption, we’re all for it.”

Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), the bill’s lead sponsors, warned in a joint statement that “the clock is now running. If leadership does not move quickly to put forward a strong ban on congressional stock trading, the members of the body will act.”

If 218 members sign the discharge petition, House leaders would be required to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. The discharge petition is a rarely successful procedural tool, but it has become more visible this Congress as members use it to press party leaders; it was recently used to force a vote on directing the Department of Justice to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Even if the petition reaches the 218-signature threshold, leaders could move to nullify the forced action with a subsequent majority vote on the floor — a tactic used earlier this year against a separate Luna petition that sought to allow new parents to vote by proxy.

Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) immediately signed the petition. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said she planned to sign, and Luna posted that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) had pledged to join as well.

There is broad bipartisan concern about members and spouses earning above-market returns on some stock trades, which has driven support for stricter limits. At the same time, some lawmakers quietly oppose a strict ban, noting that congressional pay (set at $174,000) has not risen since 2009.

The House Administration Committee recently held a hearing on the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, which requires public disclosure of members’ stock trades and clarifies that lawmakers are not exempt from insider trading rules. The committee has not yet advanced new, specific legislation.

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Luna Files Discharge Petition to Force House Vote on Congressional Stock-Trading Ban - CRBC News