Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a Republican bill that would have banned members of Congress from trading stocks using insider knowledge, after GOP leaders attached a nationwide voter ID requirement to the same legislation.
The measure, known as the Stop Insider Trading Act, had already passed the House earlier this month, where a majority of House Democrats voted against it. Both parts of the bill poll well individually: a 2023 University of Maryland poll found 86% of Americans across the political spectrum support banning lawmakers from trading stocks, and a 2025 Pew Research Center poll found 83% of Americans favor requiring government-issued photo ID to vote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of deliberately sabotaging the stock-trading ban by pairing it with voter ID language.
“They don’t want this bill to become law,” Schumer said. “So they put a poison pill in that they knew would tank it.”
“It’s really trickery. Skullduggery,” he added. “If Republican senators really cared about stopping stock trading by members, they wouldn’t have loaded it up with a poison pill voter ID bill, which Senate Democrats have defeated already twice.”
Democrats in both chambers have argued the stock-trading provisions weren’t strict enough while the voter ID provisions went too far. Senate Democrats have voted down voter ID measures, including versions of the SAVE America Act, multiple times this year, and stock-trading bans have separately stalled amid disagreements within both parties.
The bill was championed by Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., who faces a tightening re-election race this cycle.
It was one of two bills Senate Republicans brought to the floor Wednesday aimed at issues they say matter to voters ahead of the midterms, which come as President Donald Trump’s involvement in the Iran conflict and its economic fallout could shape control of Congress.
The second bill, pushed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, would set standards requiring AI companies and data centers to cover more of the electricity costs they generate — an issue that has become a flashpoint in several battleground races as candidates respond to public frustration over data center construction. Husted is running in one of the most closely watched Senate races this cycle, and Democrats have characterized the bill as a political boost for his campaign.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., defended both bills as addressing voter priorities.
“Both pieces of legislation strike at the very heart of issues that the American people care deeply about, passionately about,” Thune said. “And we’ll see if the Democrats are willing to take yes for an answer.”
