Insider and other media have identified numerous US lawmakers not complying with the federal STOCK Act.
Their excuses range from oversights, to clerical errors, to inattentive accountants.
Congress is now considering banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks.
Insider and several other news organizations have identified 76 members of Congress who've recently failed to properly report their financial trades as mandated by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, also known as the STOCK Act.
Congress passed the law a decade ago to combat insider trading and conflicts of interest among their own members and force lawmakers to be more transparent about their personal financial dealings. A key provision of the law mandates that lawmakers publicly — and quickly — disclose any stock trade made by themselves, a spouse, or a dependent child.
But many members of Congress have not fully complied with the law. They offer excuses including ignorance of the law, clerical errors, and mistakes by an accountant. Insider has chronicled this widespread nature of this phenomenon in "Conflicted Congress," an ongoing reporting project initially published in December.
While lawmakers who violate the STOCK Act face a fine, the penalty is usually small — $200 is the standard amount — or waived by House or Senate ethics officials. Ethics watchdogs and even some members of Congress have called for stricter penalties or even a ban on federal lawmakers from trading individual stocks.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are now seriously debating such a ban, with a vote on a consensus bill possible.But Democrats, who retain a majority until January, are dithering, and it's increasingly likely the bill will not come to a vote.
Here are the lawmakers discovered to have recently violated the STOCK Act — to one extent or another:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California. Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool
In May 2020, Hickenlooper was months — and in two cases, more than a year — late in disclosing five separate stock trades for himself or his wife that, taken together, are worth between $565,000 and $1.3 million, nonprofit news organization Sludge reported.
Then, in June, Hickenlooper failed to disclose purchases of varying classes of stock from by his wife. They include shares of Liberty Media Corporation, Qurate Retail, and Liberty Broadband Corporation in 2021 and early 2022. The stocks were valued between $516,006 and $1.2 million. Hickenlooper was also late in reporting that his wife sold between $130,004 and $300,000 worth of stock in Liberty Media Corporation and Liberty Broadband Corporation from March 2022.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky
Sen. Rand Paul. GREG NASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Paul was 16 months late in disclosing that his wife bought stock in a biopharmaceutical company that manufactures an antiviral COVID-19 treatment, the Washington Post reported.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island. Greg Nash - Pool/Getty Images
Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida. Photo by Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images
Scott on August 15, 2022, reported that he and his wife sold up to $450,000 in stock in Emida Corporation in September 2021 — months after a federal reporting deadline.
Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware
Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware. United States Senate
Carper was about four months late disclosing his wife's sale of stock in a gold mining company.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee
Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
US Senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis. Tom Williams/Roll Call
Lummis was several days late reporting a purchase in August of up to $100,000 in bitcoin, CNBC reported.
Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan
Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan. United States Senate
Peters was months late disclosing a purchase of up to $15,000 worth of stock in FS KKR Capital Corp., which manages business development companies, nonprofit news organization Sludge reported.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who represents Alaska, is the latest member of Congress to violate the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act's disclosure provisions. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Kelly, a retired astronaut, failed to disclose on time his exercising of a stock option on an investment in a company that's developing a supersonic passenger aircraft, Fox Business reported.
Rep. Tom Malinowski, a Democrat from New Jersey
Rep. Tom Malinowski, a Democrat from New Jersey. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
The independent Office of Congressional Ethics, in part citing Insider's reporting, found "substantial reason to believe" that Malinowski violated federal rules or laws designed to promote transparency and defend against conflicts. It voted 5-1 to refer its findings to the Democrat-led House Committee on Ethics, which confirmedon October 21 that it will continue reviewing the matter.
Rep. Pat Fallon, a Republican from Texas
Rep. Pat Fallon, a Republican from Texas. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Then, in June 2022, he was again months late in disclosing two-dozen additional cryptocurrency trades.
Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat from Massachusetts
Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat from Massachusetts. MassLive
Clark, one of the highest-ranking Democrats in the House, was several weeks late in disclosing 19 of her husband's stock transactions. Together, the trades are worth as much as $285,000. She has since stopped trading stocks.
Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican from Utah
Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican from Utah. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland. Reuters
Raskin failed to disclose on three annual congressional financial reports that his wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, held stock in Reserve Trust. He then didn't disclose that she sold the stock, valued at $1.5 million, until months after a federal deadline for doing so. In early 2022, Raskin explained that sale disclosure delay occurred following his son's death.
Then, in June 2022, Raskin was again late disclosing stock trades. This time, it involved an exchange of stocks his wife received when I(X) Investments merged with Net Zero — a trade valued at between $250,001 and $500,000.
Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama
Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
Brooks, a US House member who ran for a US Senate in 2022 but lost in a primary, failed to properly disclose a sale of Pfizer stock worth up to $50,000.
Boebert failed for months to disclose between $5,000 and $80,000 worth of transactions, made in 2021, involving various stocks, cryptocurrency, and brokerage funds that belong to her husband, the Colorado Sun reported.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from California. US House of Representatives
Lowenthal was late disclosing his wife's purchase of a corporate bond in cloud computing and technology company VMWare, worth between $15,001 and $50,000, Forbes reported. "We have no comment," Lowenthal spokesman Keith Higginbotham told Insider on November 18.
In June, Lowenthal violated the STOCK Act again when he was months late disclosing four stock or corporate bond trades.
Lowenthal's office did not respond to several Insider messages about the second and third STOCK Act violations.
Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida
Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida. Ting Shen-Pool/Getty Images
Mast was late disclosing that he had purchased up to $100,000 in stock in an aerospace company. The president of the company had just testified before a congressional subcommittee on which Mast sits.
Separately, Mast sold stock worth up to $50,000 in Ideal Power, a company that develops power switches for electric vehicles and other machinery, in February 2021. But he didn't properly report the saleto the US House of Representatives until August 12, 2022 — about a year-and-a-half after a federal deadline.
And in October 2022, Mast was more than a year late disclosing an exchange of his shares in Aphria, Inc., for shares of Tilray Brands, Inc.
Brad Stewart, Mast's deputy chief of staff, told Insider "this was an exchange trade that occurred automatically when two companies merged. Congressman Mast did not initiate the trade. It was reflected on his financial disclosure, but a periodic transaction report was not filed because he did not initiate a trade. When this was discovered, it was immediately filed. "
Rep. Kathy Manning, a Democrat from North Carolina
Rep. Kathy Manning speaks during the news conference on the introduction of the Medicaid Saves Lives Act on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Manning and her husband were late — sometimes by months — disclosing several dozen stock trades made in 2021 that together were worth up to $1.25 million, according to nonprofit news organization Sludge.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
Sherrill was months late disclosing two sales of vested stock her husband earned as part of his employment. The trades were worth up to $350,000 and Sherrill paid a $400 late fee.
Rep. Kevin Hern, a Republican from Oklahoma
Rep. Kevin Hern, a Republican from Oklahoma. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
In mid-2022, Schneider was about two months late disclosing two stock trades involving a pet insurance company.
Separately, Schneider's wife sold up to $150,000 worth of Trupanion stock in February and December of 2021. But Schneider did not report the trades until August 13.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
In January 2021, Fernandez sold between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in Golub Capital BDC, an investment company. She waited, however, untilDecember 2022 to actually report the trades — well past the 45-day deadline that Congress established for own members.
Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican from Mississippi
Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican from Mississippi. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. POOL
Scanlon's husband sold four stocks in February 2021 collectively worth up to $95,000 and exchanged up to $15,000 in shares of DuPont de Nemours early that same month, according to a disclosure she filed August 12, 2022 — almost a year-and-a-half after the fact.
In a separate disclosure filed August 26, 2022, Scanlon was months late reporting an exchange in shares of Exelon Corporation, a power generation company, that she jointly owned with her husband.
Rep. John Rutherford, a Republican from Florida
Rep. John Rutherford, a Republican from Florida. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Rep. Carol Miller, a Republican from West Virginia
Rep. Carol Miller, a Republican from West Virginia. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
In September 2022, Miller was months late disclosing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock trades made the year before by her husband. The trades included stock in a COVID-19 vaccine maker and a pair of defense contractors.
Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas
Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas. AP
Sessions was a month late in reporting a purchase of stock in Amazon.com he made during August 2021. Separately, in early 2022, Sessions was late disclosing seven trades he made in late 2021. Sessions has been an outspoken advocate of allowing members of Congress to trade individual stocks.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York. Raychel Brightman/Newsday RM via Getty Images
Suozzi failed to file required reports on about 300 financial transactions, NPR reported, citing research from the Campaign Legal Center. In March 2022, Suozzi disclosed more than 30 stock trades months or years past a federal deadline, Insider reported. In May 2022, he disclosed 10 more stock trades weeks past the federal deadline for doing so.
Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican from Pennsylvania
Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican from Pennsylvania. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Meuser was about one year late disclosing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock purchases his wife and children made during March 2020, LegiStorm reported.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida
Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida at a press conference outside the Capitol on March 17, 2021. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Salazar was weeks late disclosing a health care company stock share exchange valued at between $250,001 and $500,000.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat of Maryland, paid a late fee after he was tardy disclosing stock trades. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Pascrell was overdue reporting stock trades he made in December 2019 in General Electric and in August 2019 in pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson.
Rep. August Pfluger, a Republican from Texas
Rep. August Pfluger, a Republican from Texas. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Spartz was two weeks late disclosing a purchase of up to $50,000 worth of stock in a commercial real-estate firm.
Rep. Rick Allen, a Republican from Georgia
Rep. Rick Allen, a Republican from Georgia. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Allen, a four-term Republican who represents a large southeastern region of Georgia, appears to have improperly disclosed the purchases and sales of several stocks during 2019 and 2020.
Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington
Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Schrier was more than two months late disclosing that her husband purchased up to $1 million in Apple Inc. stock, Sludge and Forbes reported. Schrier's office told Insider that the congresswoman was initially unaware of the transaction.
Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon
Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
In September 2022, Perlmutter was again late disclosing one of his wife's stock trades.
Dwight Evans, a Democrat from Pennsylvania
Dwight Evans, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. US House of Representatives
Evans in December 2021 failed to properly disclose a sale of up to $15,000 worth of stock in American Electric Power Co. Inc.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas. US House of Representatives
Doggett was days late disclosing purchases of four stocks — he said they were automated dividend reinvestments of existing stock holdings — that he made in September 2022.
Rep. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio
Rep. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio. John Minchillo/AP
Davidson didn't properly disclose the sale of stock worth up to $100,000, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research.
Rep. Lance Gooden, a Republican from Texas
Rep. Lance Gooden, a Republican from Texas. House Television via AP
Gooden failed to file mandatory periodic transaction reports for a dozen stock transactions, per the STOCK Act, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research. Gooden's office disputed to the Dallas Morning News that the lawmaker did anything wrong.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican from Tennessee
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican from Tennessee. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
During 2019 and 2020, Axne didn't file required periodic transaction reports for more than three-dozen trades, reported NPR, citing research by the Campaign Legal Center.
Del. Michael San Nicolas, a Democrat from Guam
Del. Michael San Nicolas, a Democrat from Guam. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
San Nicolas did not properly disclose two trades — one in 2019 and another in 2020, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research.
Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont
Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Getty Images
Welch, an outspoken environmentalist, was late disclosing the sale of his wife's ExxonMobil stock. In December, Welch's office told Insider that the congressman and his wife would both stop trading individual stocks.
Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana
Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a Republican from Minnesota. US House of Representatives
Hagedorn was more than three months latedisclosing the sale of stock in a company that makes colon cancer-screening products. Hagedorn died in February 2022.
Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas
Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas. Associated Press/Carolyn Kaster
Williams did not properly report three stock transactions his wife made in 2019, reported NPR, citing Campaign Legal Center research.
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