II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2773 

To amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to require Members 

of Congress and their spouses and dependent children to place certain 

assets into blind trusts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself, Mr. KELLY, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. BENNET, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to 

require Members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children to place certain assets into blind trusts, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Ban Congressional 

5 Stock Trading Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN ASSETS OF MEMBERS OF 

2 CONGRESS, SPOUSES, AND DEPENDENT CHIL3 DREN IN QUALIFIED BLIND TRUSTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 131 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘Subchapter IV—Certain Assets of Members 

8 of Congress, Spouses, and Dependent 

9 Children 

10 ‘‘§ 13161. Definitions 

11 ‘‘In this title: 

12 ‘‘(1) COMMODITY.—The term ‘commodity’ has 

13 the meaning given the term in section 1a of the 

14 Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a). 

15 ‘‘(2) COVERED INVESTMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered in17 vestment’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) an investment in a security, a 

19 commodity, or a future; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) any economic interest com21 parable to an interest described in clause 

22 (i) that is acquired through synthetic 

23 means, such as the use of a derivative, in24 cluding an option, warrant, or other, simi25 lar means. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered in2 vestment’ includes an investment or economic 

3 interest described in subparagraph (A) that is 

4 held directly, or in which an individual has an 

5 indirect, beneficial, or economic interest, 

6 through— 

7 ‘‘(i) an investment fund; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a trust (other than a qualified 

9 blind trust); 

10 ‘‘(iii) an employee benefit plan; or 

11 ‘‘(iv) a deferred compensation plan, 

12 including a carried interest or other agree13 ment tied to the performance of an invest14 ment, other than a fixed cash payment. 

15 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered in16 vestment’ does not include— 

17 ‘‘(i) a diversified mutual fund (includ18 ing any holdings of such a fund); 

19 ‘‘(ii) a diversified exchange-traded 

20 fund (including any holdings of such a 

21 fund); 

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

23 note, or bond; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) compensation from the primary 

2 occupation of a spouse or dependent child 

3 of a Member of Congress; or 

4 ‘‘(v) any investment fund held in a 

5 Federal, State, or local government em6 ployee retirement plan. 

7 ‘‘(D) CLARIFICATION.—An investment that 

8 achieves compliance with applicable environ9 mental, social, and governance criteria shall not 

10 be considered to be a covered investment solely 

11 by reason of that compliance. 

12 ‘‘(3) CURRENT.—The term ‘current’, with re13 spect to a Member of Congress, means an individual 

14 who is serving as a Member of Congress on the date 

15 of enactment of the Ban Congressional Stock Trad16 ing Act. 

17 ‘‘(4) DEPENDENT CHILD.—The term ‘depend18 ent child’ means, with respect to any Member of 

19 Congress, any individual— 

20 ‘‘(A) who has not attained the age of 19; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) who is a dependent, within the mean23 ing of section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986, of the Member of Congress. 


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1 ‘‘(5) DIVERSIFIED.—The term ‘diversified’, 

2 with respect to a fund, trust, or plan, means that 

3 the fund, trust, or plan does not have a stated policy 

4 of concentrating its investments in any industry, 

5 business, single country other than the United 

6 States, or bonds of a single State. 

7 ‘‘(6) FUTURE.—The term ‘future’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a security future (as defined in sec9 tion 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

10 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); and 

11 ‘‘(B) any other contract for the sale of a 

12 commodity for future delivery. 

13 ‘‘(7) INITIAL PROPERTY.—The term ‘initial 

14 property’ means an asset or financial interest trans15 ferred to a qualified blind trust by, or on behalf of, 

16 an interested party or a relative of an interested 

17 party, regardless of whether the asset or financial 

18 interest is transferred to the qualified blind trust on 

19 or after the date of establishment of the qualified 

20 blind trust. 

21 ‘‘(8) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘inter22 ested party’ has the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 13104(f)(3)(E). 


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1 ‘‘(9) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘Mem2 ber of Congress’ has the meaning given the term in 

3 section 13101. 

4 ‘‘(10) NEW.—The term ‘new’, with respect to a 

5 Member of Congress, means an individual who— 

6 ‘‘(A) is not a current Member of Congress; 

7 but 

8 ‘‘(B) commences service as a Member of 

9 Congress after the date of enactment of the 

10 Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act. 

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

12 ‘qualified blind trust’ means a qualified blind trust 

13 (as defined in section 13104(f)(3)) that has been ap14 proved in writing by the applicable supervising ethics 

15 office under section 13104(f)(3)(D). 

16 ‘‘(12) SECURITY.—The term ‘security’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Secu18 rities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)). 

19 ‘‘(13) SUPERVISING ETHICS OFFICE.—The term 

20 ‘supervising ethics office’ has the meaning given the 

21 term in section 13101. 

22 ‘‘§ 13162. Placement of certain assets in qualified 

23 blind trusts 

24 ‘‘(a) CURRENT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

2 after the date of enactment of the Ban Congres3 sional Stock Trading Act, each current Member of 

4 Congress shall submit to the applicable supervising 

5 ethics office a certification that, as applicable— 

6 ‘‘(A) for each covered investment owned by 

7 the Member of Congress or a spouse or depend8 ent child of the Member of Congress, the Mem9 ber of Congress, or the applicable spouse or de10 pendent child of the Member of Congress, 

11 will— 

12 ‘‘(i) divest the covered investment; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) place the covered investment in a 

14 qualified blind trust, including by estab15 lishing a qualified blind trust for that pur16 pose, if necessary; or 

17 ‘‘(B) neither the Member of Congress nor 

18 any spouse or dependent child of the Member of 

19 Congress owns a covered investment. 

20 ‘‘(2) DIVESTITURE OR PLACEMENT IN QUALI21 FIED BLIND TRUST.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to para23 graph (3), not later than 120 days after the 

24 date of enactment of the Ban Congressional 

25 Stock Trading Act, each current Member of 


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1 Congress shall divest, or place in a qualified 

2 blind trust (including by establishing a qualified 

3 blind trust for that purpose, if necessary), each 

4 covered investment owned by the Member of 

5 Congress or a spouse or dependent child of the 

6 Member of Congress. 

7 ‘‘(B) DIVESTITURE.—A current Member of 

8 Congress shall divest a covered investment held 

9 by the Member of Congress or a spouse or de10 pendent child of the Member of Congress if— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Member of Congress, or the 

12 applicable spouse or dependent child of the 

13 Member of Congress, is unable to place the 

14 covered investment in a qualified blind 

15 trust by the date described in subpara16 graph (A); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the Member of Congress fails to 

18 obtain an extension pursuant to paragraph 

19 (3). 

20 ‘‘(3) EXTENSIONS.—If a current Member of 

21 Congress, or a spouse or dependent child of the 

22 Member of Congress, is unable to place a covered in23 vestment in a qualified blind trust by the date de24 scribed in paragraph (2)(A), the Member of Con25 gress may request, and the supervising ethics office 


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1 may grant, 1 or more reasonable extensions, subject 

2 to the conditions that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the total period of time covered by all 

4 extensions granted to the Member of Congress 

5 for the covered investment shall not exceed 180 

6 days; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the period covered by a single exten8 sion shall be not longer than 45 days. 

9 ‘‘(b) NEW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after the date on which an individual becomes a new 

12 Member of Congress, the new Member of Congress 

13 shall submit to the applicable supervising ethics of14 fice a certification that, as applicable— 

15 ‘‘(A) for each covered investment owned by 

16 the Member of Congress or a spouse or depend17 ent child of the Member of Congress, the Mem18 ber of Congress, or the applicable spouse or de19 pendent child of the Member of Congress, 

20 will— 

21 ‘‘(i) divest the covered investment; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) place the covered investment in a 

23 qualified blind trust, including by estab24 lishing a qualified blind trust for that pur25 pose, if necessary; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) neither the Member of Congress nor 

2 a spouse or dependent child of the Member of 

3 Congress owns a covered investment. 

4 ‘‘(2) DIVESTITURE OR PLACEMENT IN QUALI5 FIED BLIND TRUST.— 

6 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to para7 graph (3), not later than 120 days after the 

8 date on which an individual becomes a new 

9 Member of Congress, the individual shall divest, 

10 or place in a qualified blind trust (including by 

11 establishing a qualified blind trust for that pur12 pose, if necessary), each covered investment 

13 owned by the Member of Congress or a spouse 

14 or dependent child of the Member of Congress. 

15 ‘‘(B) DIVESTITURE.—A new Member of 

16 Congress shall divest a covered investment held 

17 by the Member of Congress or a spouse or de18 pendent child of the Member of Congress if— 

19 ‘‘(i) the Member of Congress, or the 

20 applicable spouse or dependent child of the 

21 Member of Congress, is unable to place the 

22 covered investment in a qualified blind 

23 trust by the date described in subpara24 graph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Member of Congress fails to 

2 obtain an extension pursuant to paragraph 

3 (3). 

4 ‘‘(3) EXTENSIONS.—If a new Member of Con5 gress, or a spouse or dependent child of the Member 

6 of Congress, is unable to place a covered investment 

7 in a qualified blind trust by the date described in 

8 paragraph (2)(A), the Member of Congress may re9 quest, and the supervising ethics office may grant, 

10 1 or more reasonable extensions, subject to the con11 ditions that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the total period of time covered by all 

13 extensions granted to the Member of Congress 

14 for the covered investment shall not exceed 180 

15 days; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the period covered by a single exten17 sion shall be not longer than 45 days. 

18 ‘‘(c) ACQUISITIONS DURING SERVICE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

20 and any applicable rules issued pursuant to sub21 section (h)(3), effective beginning on the date of en22 actment of the Ban Congressional Stock Trading 

23 Act, a Member of Congress, and a spouse or depend24 ent child of the Member of Congress, may not ac25 quire a covered investment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INHERITANCES.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara3 graph (B), a Member of Congress or a spouse 

4 or dependent child of a Member of Congress 

5 who inherits a covered investment shall divest 

6 or place the covered investment in a qualified 

7 blind trust by not later than 120 days after the 

8 date on which the covered investment is inher9 ited. 

10 ‘‘(B) EXTENSIONS.—If a Member of Con11 gress, or a spouse or dependent child of the 

12 Member of Congress, is unable to place a cov13 ered investment in a qualified blind trust by the 

14 date described in subparagraph (A), the Mem15 ber of Congress may request, and the super16 vising ethics office may grant, 1 or more rea17 sonable extensions, subject to the conditions 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(i) the total period of time covered 

20 by all extensions granted to the Member of 

21 Congress for the covered investment shall 

22 not exceed 180 days; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the period covered by a single ex24 tension shall be not longer than 45 days. 


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1 ‘‘(d) MINGLING OF ASSETS.—A spouse or dependent 

2 child of a Member of Congress may place a covered invest3 ment in a qualified blind trust established by the Member 

4 of Congress under subsection (a)(1)(A)(ii) or (b)(1)(A)(ii). 

5 ‘‘(e) SEPARATION FROM SERVICE AND COOLING-OFF

6 PERIOD REQUIRED FOR CONTROL.—During the period 

7 beginning on the date on which an individual becomes a 

8 Member of Congress and ending on the date that is 180 

9 days after the date on which the individual ceases to serve 

10 as a Member of Congress, the Member of Congress, and 

11 any spouse or dependent child of the Member of Congress, 

12 may not— 

13 ‘‘(1) dissolve any qualified blind trust in which 

14 a covered investment has been placed pursuant to 

15 subsection (a), (b), (c)(2), or (d); or 

16 ‘‘(2) except as provided in this section, other17 wise control a covered investment. 

18 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) SUPERVISING ETHICS OFFICES.—Each su20 pervising ethics office shall make available on the 

21 public website of the supervising ethics office— 

22 ‘‘(A) a copy of— 

23 ‘‘(i) each certification submitted to 

24 the supervising ethics office under sub25 section (a)(1) or (b)(1); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) each qualified blind trust agree2 ment of each Member of Congress; 

3 ‘‘(iii) each notice and other docu4 mentation submitted to the supervising 

5 ethics office under paragraph (2) or (3); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(iv) each notice, rule, and other doc8 umentation issued or received by the su9 pervising ethics office under subsection (g); 

10 ‘‘(B) a schedule of all assets placed in a 

11 qualified blind trust by each Member of Con12 gress and interested party; and 

13 ‘‘(C) a description of each extension grant14 ed, and each civil penalty imposed, pursuant to 

15 this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) TRUSTEES.—Each trustee of a qualified 

17 blind trust established by a Member of Congress 

18 shall submit to the Member of Congress and the ap19 plicable supervising ethics office a written notice in 

20 any case in which the trustee— 

21 ‘‘(A) learns that— 

22 ‘‘(i) an interested party has obtained 

23 knowledge of any trust property other than 

24 the initial property of the qualified blind 

25 trust; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the value of the initial property 

2 of the qualified blind trust is less than 

3 $1,000; or 

4 ‘‘(B) divests any initial property of the 

5 qualified blind trust. 

6 ‘‘(3) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Each Member 

7 of Congress who is a beneficiary of a qualified blind 

8 trust shall submit to the applicable supervising eth9 ics office— 

10 ‘‘(A) a copy of the executed qualified blind 

11 trust agreement by not later than 30 days after 

12 the date of execution; 

13 ‘‘(B) a list of each asset and each financial 

14 interest transferred to the qualified blind trust 

15 by an interested party by not later than 30 

16 days after the date of the transfer; 

17 ‘‘(C) a copy of each notice submitted to the 

18 Member of Congress under paragraph (2) by 

19 not later than 30 days after the date of receipt; 

20 ‘‘(D) a written notice that an interested 

21 party has obtained knowledge of any holding of 

22 the qualified blind trust by not later than the 

23 date that is 30 days after the date on which the 

24 Member of Congress discovered that the knowl25 edge had been obtained; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) a written notice of dissolution of the 

2 qualified blind trust by not later than 30 days 

3 after the date of dissolution. 

4 ‘‘(g) ENFORCEMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The applicable supervising 

6 ethics office shall provide a written notice (including 

7 notice of the potential for civil penalties under para8 graph (2)) to any Member of Congress who fails— 

9 ‘‘(A) to submit a certification under sub10 section (a)(1) or (b)(1) by the date on which 

11 the certification is required to be submitted; or 

12 ‘‘(B) to place 1 or more covered invest13 ments owned by the Member of Congress or a 

14 spouse or dependent child of the Member of 

15 Congress in a qualified blind trust in accord16 ance with subsection (a)(2), (b)(2), 

17 (c)(2)(C)(i)(II), or (c)(2)(A) by the applicable 

18 deadline, subject to any extension under sub19 section (a)(3), (b)(3), or (c)(2)(B). 

20 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A supervising ethics 

22 office shall impose a civil penalty, in the 

23 amount described in subparagraph (B), on a 

24 Member of Congress to whom a notice is proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2773.IS S2773

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1 vided under subparagraph (A) or (B) of para2 graph (1)— 

3 ‘‘(i) on the date that is 30 days after 

4 the date of provision of the notice; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) not less frequently than once 

6 every 30 days thereafter. 

7 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The amount of each civil 

8 penalty imposed on a Member of Congress pur9 suant to subparagraph (A) shall be equal to the 

10 monthly equivalent of the annual rate of pay 

11 payable to the Member of Congress. 

12 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF SUPERVISING ETHICS OF13 FICES.—Each supervising ethics office in the legislative 

14 branch may— 

15 ‘‘(1) impose and collect civil penalties in accord16 ance with subsection (g); 

17 ‘‘(2) establish such procedures and standard 

18 forms as the supervising ethics office determines to 

19 be appropriate to implement this section; 

20 ‘‘(3) issue rules in accordance with this section 

21 to establish new, and supplement existing, defini22 tions applicable to this section; and 

23 ‘‘(4) publish on a website all documents and 

24 communications described in this subsection.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—CERTAIN ASSETS OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, SPOUSES, 

AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN

‘‘13161. Definitions. 

‘‘13162. Placement of certain assets in qualified blind trusts.’’. 

Æ 


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