Rep. Cleaver Joins Bipartisan Cohort to Re-introduce TRUST in Congress Act, Ban Members of Congress from Trading Individual Stocks

January 12, 2023
Press Release

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) joined Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Chip Roy (R-TX), and 34 additional lawmakers in re-introducing the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act. The bipartisan legislation would require Members of Congress, as well as their spouses and dependent children, to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress, effectively banning them from trading individual stocks.

“Even the perception that lawmakers are utilizing their office to get rich in the stock market undermines our democratic institutions and the public’s faith in Congress—which is already an ongoing challenge,” said Congressman Cleaver. “While I believe that the vast majority of Members of Congress are good and decent people who came to Washington to serve their communities, I believe the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act is a commonsense bill that will help to reinstall confidence in this institution. The American people should know with certainty that their Representatives are making decisions based on what’s best for their constituents, not their stock portfolios. With the TRUST in Congress Act, they will.”

By establishing this new firewall between lawmakers and their investments, the TRUST in Congress Act would ensure Members of Congress are unable to use their position of power to unethically inform their investment decisions, influence the value of their existing investments, or contribute to greater distrust between the American people and their elected officials. Rep. Cleaver previously cosponsored the TRUST in Congress Act during the 117th Congress.

Specifically, the TRUST in Congress Act would:

  • Require all Members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust within 90 days after the enactment of the bill. Members would be able to remove assets from the blind trust 180 days after leaving Congress;
  • Require all Members to either certify to the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate that they have established a blind trust to include covered investments or certify to the Clerk or the Secretary that they do not own any covered investments. The status of these certifications would then be made publicly available; and
  • Define covered investments as: a security, commodity, future, or any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means such as the use of a derivative.

Official text of the TRUST in Congress Act is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus.