Senate Democrats are punting a bill to ban members of Congress from trading stocks to the lame-duck session: 'It's not going to happen before the election'

• Senate Democrats won't release a consensus bill to ban congressional stock trading until after the midterms.
• "It's not going to happen before the election," said Sen. Jeff Merkley, a leading advocate on the issue.

Senate Democrats will not introduce legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stocks until after the November midterm election, according to Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, a leading proponent of the legislation.

"I'm looking forward to getting this across the finish line, but it's not going to happen before the election," Merkley told Insider on Thursday.

In February, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer formed a working group for the purpose of developing consensus legislation that would stand a chance of passing the evenly-divided Senate, where floor time is valuable.

The New York Democrat's move came after Insider's "Conflicted Congress" investigation revealed widespread violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. A slew of legislation was introduced to address the problem.

"I feel like we've made very large strides towards a consensus bill," Merkley said during an interview in the US Capitol. "But there are a whole lot of other bills and judicial nominations lined up for the balance of the few days we have left here."

Two other members of the Senate working group told Insider they couldn't confirm Merkley's assessment of the stock bill. But neither would refute it, either.

"I don't have a comment," said Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia. "Except what I've consistently said, which is that it's time to vote."

"There is no reason that we should not have a stock trading bill on the floor and vote on it," added Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. "Every day that we delay on passing meaningful restrictions on stock trading among members of Congress is a day that further erodes the credibility of this body."

Merkley's Senate news comes just a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that the House may vote on legislation to ban congressional stock trading this month.

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"We believe we have a product that we can bring to the floor this month," she told reporters at her weekly press conference on Wednesday. "I'm pleased with it, it's very strong."

The decision to punt the much-anticipated legislation into this year's lame-duck session — when lawmakers may feel less pressure from the public so soon after an election — could imperil the potential for enacting the widely-popular reform this Congress.

Walter Shaub, a senior ethics fellow at the Project on Government Oversight — which has been working with Merkley and other Senate Democrats on the consensus legislation — ripped into Merkley in a statement to Insider.

"I'm not surprised to hear this is Senator Merkley's position," said Shaub. "He took control of the working group and slow-walked this thing for 223 days. It's a tragic lost opportunity and a shameful failure."

But Merkley sounded an optimistic note, saying that in over a decade working on the issue, he's never felt so close to fixing what he says is a significant ethical problem.

"I think we have the best momentum that we've ever had in the 10 years I've been fighting to end this practice of stock trading," he said. "Our candidates are much more aware of it, our entire membership continues to see how it creates a real conflict of interest if you have a personal portfolio and you're serving the public."

Merkley has previously told Insider that the legislation being hammered out by Senate Democrats will also include a ban on spouses from trading stocks, closing a potential loophole in the existing legislation.

"Slowly over time, we have reached a strong consensus on almost everything," he said. "You can touch the brass ring, but we can't quite grab it yet. But part of that is people realizing it's not going to get on the floor because of the bills that are stacked up before the election anyway."

Merkley also told Insider that he wasn't aware of the details of the legislation being hammered out by House Democratic leadership, raising questions about whether the House and Senate versions will have significant differences.

"I'll evaluate what the House does when they act," said Merkley. He also noted that several House proponents of stock-ban legislation say they're unaware of what's being worked on by leadership.

On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia — one of the leading proponents of a bill to ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks — confirmed the lack of communication from House leadership to Insider.

"Literally no returned emails, no returned phone calls, like, ghosted," she said.