II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 58 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to prohibit transactions 

involving certain financial instruments by Members of Congress. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2023 

Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to prohibit 

transactions involving certain financial instruments by 

Members of Congress. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Elected 

5 Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments 

6 (PELOSI) Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. BANNING INSIDER TRADING IN CONGRESS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 

9 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting after title 

10 I the following: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE II—BANNING INSIDER 

2 TRADING IN CONGRESS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this title: 

5 ‘‘(1) COVERED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered fi7 nancial instrument’ means— 

8 ‘‘(i) any investment in— 

9 ‘‘(I) a security (as defined in sec10 tion 3(a) of Securities Exchange Act 

11 of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); 

12 ‘‘(II) a security future (as de13 fined in that section); or 

14 ‘‘(III) a commodity (as defined in 

15 section 1a of the Commodity Ex16 change Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) any economic interest com18 parable to an interest described in clause 

19 (i) that is acquired through synthetic 

20 means, such as the use of a derivative, in21 cluding an option, warrant, or other simi22 lar means. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered fi24 nancial instrument’ does not include— 

25 ‘‘(i) a diversified mutual fund; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a diversified exchange-traded 

2 fund; 

3 ‘‘(iii) a United States Treasury bill, 

4 note, or bond; or 

5 ‘‘(iv) compensation from the primary 

6 occupation of a spouse or dependent of a 

7 Member of Congress. 

8 ‘‘(2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘Mem9 ber of Congress’ has the meaning given the term in 

10 section 109. 

11 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED BLIND TRUST.—The term 

12 ‘qualified blind trust’ has the meaning given the 

13 term in section 102(f)(3). 

14 ‘‘(4) SUPERVISING ETHICS COMMITTEE.—The 

15 term ‘supervising ethics committee’ means, as appli16 cable— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Select Committee on Ethics of 

18 the Senate; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Ethics of the 

20 House of Representatives. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 202. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS AND 

22 HOLDINGS INVOLVING COVERED FINANCIAL 

23 INSTRUMENTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub25 section (b), a Member of Congress, or any spouse of a 


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1 Member of Congress, may not, during the term of service 

2 of the Member of Congress, hold, purchase, or sell any 

3 covered financial instrument. 

4 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under sub5 section (a) shall not apply to— 

6 ‘‘(1) a sale by a Member of Congress, or a 

7 spouse of a Member of Congress, that is completed 

8 by the date that is— 

9 ‘‘(A) for a Member of Congress serving on 

10 the date of enactment of the Preventing Elected 

11 Leaders from Owning Securities and Invest12 ments (PELOSI) Act, 180 days after that date 

13 of enactment; and 

14 ‘‘(B) for any Member of Congress who 

15 commences service as a Member of Congress 

16 after the date of enactment of the Preventing 

17 Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and 

18 Investments (PELOSI) Act, 180 days after the 

19 first date of the initial term of service; or 

20 ‘‘(2) a covered financial instrument held in a 

21 qualified blind trust operated on behalf of, or for the 

22 benefit of, the Member of Congress or spouse of the 

23 Member of Congress. 

24 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DISGORGEMENT.—A Member of Congress 

2 shall disgorge to the Treasury of the United States 

3 any profit from a transaction or holding involving a 

4 covered financial instrument that is conducted in 

5 violation of this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) INCOME TAX.—A loss from a transaction 

7 or holding involving a covered financial instrument 

8 that is conducted in violation of this section may not 

9 be deducted from the amount of income tax owed by 

10 the applicable Member of Congress or spouse of a 

11 Member of Congress. 

12 ‘‘(3) FINES.—A Member of Congress who holds 

13 or conducts a transaction involving, or whose spouse 

14 holds or conducts a transaction involving, a covered 

15 financial instrument in violation of this section may 

16 be subject to a civil fine assessed by the supervising 

17 ethics committee under section 204. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 203. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than annu20 ally, each Member of Congress shall submit to the applica21 ble supervising ethics committee a written certification 

22 that the Member of Congress has achieved compliance 

23 with the requirements of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PUBLICATION.—The supervising ethics commit2 tees shall publish each certification submitted under sub3 section (a) on a publicly available website. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 204. AUTHORITY OF SUPERVISING ETHICS COMMIT5 TEES. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The supervising ethics commit7 tees may implement and enforce the requirements of this 

8 title, including by— 

9 ‘‘(1) issuing— 

10 ‘‘(A) for Members of Congress— 

11 ‘‘(i) rules governing that implementa12 tion; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more reasonable extensions 

14 to achieve compliance with this title, if the 

15 supervising ethics committee determines 

16 that a Member of Congress is making a 

17 good faith effort to divest any covered fi18 nancial instruments; and 

19 ‘‘(B) guidance relating to covered financial 

20 instruments; 

21 ‘‘(2) publishing on the internet certifications 

22 submitted by Members of Congress under section 

23 203(a); and 


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1 ‘‘(3) assessing civil fines against any Member of 

2 Congress who is in violation of this title, subject to 

3 subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CIVIL FINES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before imposing a fine pur6 suant to this section, a supervising ethics committee 

7 shall provide to the applicable Member of Con8 gress— 

9 ‘‘(A) a written notice describing each cov10 ered financial instrument transaction for which 

11 a fine will be assessed; and 

12 ‘‘(B) an opportunity, with respect to each 

13 such covered financial instrument transaction— 

14 ‘‘(i) for a hearing; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) to achieve compliance with the 

16 requirements of this title. 

17 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Each supervising ethics 

18 committee shall publish on a publicly available 

19 website a description of— 

20 ‘‘(A) each fine assessed by the supervising 

21 ethics committee pursuant to this section; 

22 ‘‘(B) the reasons why each such fine was 

23 assessed; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the result of each assessment, includ2 ing any hearing under paragraph (1)(B)(i) re3 lating to the assessment. 

4 ‘‘(3) APPEAL.—A Member of Congress may ap5 peal the assessment of a fine under this section to 

6 a vote on the floor of the Senate or the House of 

7 Representatives, as applicable, as a privileged mo8 tion. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 205. AUDIT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF10 FICE. 

11 ‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

12 of the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities 

13 and Investments (PELOSI) Act, the Comptroller General 

14 of the United States shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) conduct an audit of the compliance by 

16 Members of Congress with the requirements of this 

17 title; and 

18 ‘‘(2) submit to the supervising ethics commit19 tees a report describing the results of the audit con20 ducted under paragraph (1).’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) Section 109 of the Ethics in Government 

23 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

2 by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this title, the 

3 term—’’ and inserting ‘‘In this title:’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘means’’ 

5 and all that follows through ‘‘Representatives;’’ 

6 and inserting the following: ‘‘means, as applica7 ble— 

8 ‘‘(A) the Select Committee on Ethics of 

9 the Senate; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Ethics of the 

11 House of Representatives.’’; 

12 (C) in each of paragraphs (2) through 

13 (17), by striking the semicolon at the end of the 

14 paragraph and inserting a period; 

15 (D) in paragraph (18)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

17 ‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Ethics’’; and 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

20 ‘‘; and’’ at the end and inserting a period; 

21 (E) in each of paragraphs (1) through 

22 (19)— 

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after the 

24 paragraph designation; and 


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1 (ii) by inserting a paragraph heading, 

2 the text of which is comprised of the term 

3 defined in that paragraph; and 

4 (F) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and 

5 (9) as paragraphs (9) and (8), respectively, and 

6 moving the paragraphs so as to appear in nu7 merical order. 

8 (2) Section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government 

9 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

10 (A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘as de11 fined under section 109(12)’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘as de13 fined under section 109(13)’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘as de15 fined under section 109(10)’’; and 

16 (D) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘as de17 fined under section 109(8)’’. 

18 (3) Section 111(2) of the Ethics in Government 

19 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and inserting ‘‘Eth21 ics’’. 

22 (4) Section 402 of the Ethics in Government 

23 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

24 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘title II 

25 of’’ each place it appears; and 


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1 (B) in subsection (f)(2)(B)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) 

3 of this subparagraph, before’’ each place it 

4 appears and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking clause (iv). 

6 (5) Section 503(1)(A) of the Ethics in Govern7 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘Standards of Official Conduct’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘Ethics’’. 

10 (6) Section 3(4)(D) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

11 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(4)(D)) is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘legislative branch employee serving in a po13 sition described under section 109(13) of the Ethics 

14 in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘officer or employee of the Congress (as 

16 defined in section 109 of the Ethics in Government 

17 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.))’’. 

18 (7) Section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act 

19 of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–1) is amended— 

20 (A) in subsection (g)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

21 ‘‘section 109(11) of the Ethics in Government 

22 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(11))’’ and in23 serting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in Govern24 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; and 

25 (B) in subsection (h)(2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘section 109(8) of the Ethics in Govern3 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(8))’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in 

5 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; 

6 and 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

8 ‘‘under section 109(10) of the Ethics in 

9 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 

10 109(10))’’ and inserting ‘‘in section 109 of 

11 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

12 U.S.C. App.)’’. 

Æ 


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