CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
Jan. 31, 2012 – 8:43 p.m.
Senators Work to Expand Insider Trading Ban to Cover Executive Branch
By Alan K. Ota and Rachael Bade, CQ Staff
Senate supporters of legislation to ban lawmakers and aides from trading stocks and other securities based on confidential information were working Tuesday to extend the bill’s disclosure requirements to executive branch officials.
Maine Republican
Collins said she wanted to expand the bill’s disclosure requirements to executive branch officials subject to Senate confirmation while excluding low-level federal employees and military appointees.
The proposal, similar to one floated by House Majority Leader
Cantor said Tuesday that the House will consider its own version if the Senate passes a bill that does not extend disclosure requirements to executive branch officials. Passage of a separate House bill could lead to lengthy negotiations with the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader
Securities and Exchange Commission rules already ban insider trading. The bill would direct the House and ethics committees to issue guidance underscoring that lawmakers and congressional staff cannot use confidential information for “private profit.”
A day after Reid said he would not restrict amendments to the bill, senators lined up with a host of unrelated additions; supporters sought to restrict them, saying they threatened to derail the bill.
The numerous amendments prompted Reid to threaten to file a motion to limit debate on the bill (
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman
Lieberman drafted the original insider trading bill, which incorporated parts of bills (
The Ohio senator has also proposed a possibly more controversial amendment to require lawmakers to divest or place in a blind trust all stock and securities holdings in industries they have jurisdiction over through their committee assignments.
Such a conflict-of-interest provision is not in either Reid’s revised bill or the earlier Lieberman version. President Obama, in his State of the Union address, called on Congress to ban insider trading and prohibit lawmakers from “owning stocks in industries they impact.”
Senators Work to Expand Insider Trading Ban to Cover Executive Branch
House and Senate ethics rules bar lawmakers and their aides from voting on legislation with which they have a conflict of interest.
In taking aim at extraneous amendments, Lieberman singled out one from Arizona Republican
Among other amendments is one by Paul to strip the federal pensions of former lawmakers who register to lobby or receive payments from entities that hire registered lobbyists.
In an apparent reference to former House Speaker and current Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, Paul said changes are needed to limit the federal benefits of former lawmakers who become “lobbyists” or “historians.” Gingrich has disclosed that he was a paid consultant and a historian for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paul’s father, Rep.
South Carolina Republican
The Senate opened its debate Tuesday after it easily overcame a procedural hurdle, agreeing by voice vote to formally take up the legislation. Tuesday’s vote was foretold after the Senate voted 93-2 on Jan. 30 to limit debate on a motion to proceed to the bill, handily exceeding the 60 votes needed for cloture.
The Senate was expected to begin voting on amendments as early as Wednesday.
The effort to remove any ambiguity about whether it is illegal for lawmakers and aides to buy or sell stocks or other securities based on information not in the public domain but gleaned in the course of their work has gained traction since a CBS “60 Minutes” report last November disclosed that a number of lawmakers held stocks that could be affected by legislative action.
Collins said in a statement that the bill would “reassure a skeptical public that we understand that elective office is a place for public service, not private gain.”
Niels Lesniewski contributed to this story.