With the end of the year approaching, many investors are considering whether to make moves to take advantage of tax implications. That goes for members of Congress too. But if 90 former lawmakers have their way, this could be the last time current legislators get to buy, sell and own stocks. Plus, a rundown of the top leadership PACs of the 2024 election.

Ninety former members of Congress today urged U.S. House leaders to quickly pass legislation that would “eliminate the persistent appearance of insider trading among members of Congress,” according to a letter obtained by Dave Levinthal.

In the letter, the former federal lawmakers — Democrats, Republicans and independents alike — tell Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) that passing the Restore Trust in Congress Act would defend against “real and perceived conflicts of interest,” as the bipartisan bill in part aims to ban members of Congress and their immediate family members from buying, selling and owning most individual stocks. 

The former members of Congress also wrote that approving the bill would demonstrate “that members of Congress prioritize the institution’s integrity and their commitment to their constituents above personal gain” at a time when dozens of members have in recent years violated existing stock-trading rules. They “strongly recommend attaching this legislation to a ‘must pass’ package” before the end of the year.

“The American people understand that our elected lawmakers cannot be both the referee and the player — that presents a clear conflict of interest,” the former lawmakers write. “Even the appearance of self-dealing does damage.”

Among the former lawmakers to sign the letter: Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). 

In all, 60 Democrats, 28 Republicans and two independents signed the letter, which was organized by the nonpartisan government watchdog organization Issue One.

Federal lawmakers are routinely privy to “tremendously important and deeply sensitive information” about all manner of companies and industries, from tech to pharmaceuticals to defense contractors, said former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), who served in Congress from 1991 to 2003 and now co-chairs Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus. This represents “completely unfair access to information over what the average American has when making investments,” Roemer said.

News organizations, including OpenSecrets, have identified more than two dozen current members of Congress who have violated the STOCK Act’s transparency provisions this year. In some cases, they’ve failed to properly disclose hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars worth of personal stock trades until months or years after the existing 45-day deadline for doing so.

Violators include Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dwight Evans, Jamie Raskin, Chellie Pingree, Shri Thanedar, George Whitesides, Ritchie Torres, Jonathan Jackson, Donald Norcross, Tom Suozzi, George Latimer, Val Hoyle, Jared Huffman and Pat Ryan.

Republicans include Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Reps. Dan Meuser, Lisa McClain, Austin Scott, Neal Dunn, Scott Franklin, Brandon Gill, Hal Rogers, Tim Moore, Troy Nehls, Rich McCormick and Sheri Biggs.

Dozens of other federal lawmakers have violated the STOCK Act in recent years. And last month, Robert White, a leading candidate challenging long-time Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C., also violated the STOCK Act, OpenSecrets reported.

Other current members have adhered to the STOCK Act’s disclosure deadlines but continue to personally trade stocks in companies that aggressively lobby Congress and have significantbusiness before the federal government.

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In addition to collecting money for their own campaigns, many politicians also raise a separate pot of money, commonly called a leadership political action committee, to help other candidates and causes. Ambitious lawmakers can use their leadership PACs to gain clout among their colleagues and boost their bids for leadership posts or committee chairmanships. This involves giving to other members, the party, PACs, and super PACs. In the 2024 election cycle, leadership PACs doled out $79.3 million to federal candidates. Most of it went to Republican candidates, but a Democratic leadership PAC topped the charts.

We are now in the final month of our biggest fundraiser of the year: NewsMatch, a nationwide campaign to support nonprofit journalism. There’s never been a more critical time to protect independent newsrooms like ours — newsrooms that provide an essential public service to the American people. 

From now until Dec. 31, we have an opportunity to boost the impact of donations to OpenSecrets, which will help power our newsroom into 2026. Here’s how it works: 

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If you’ve been thinking about becoming a donor to OpenSecrets or want to double your gift this year, this is the best time to do it. Your support will get our NewsMatch campaign off to a solid start and help keep us going strong.

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Whether you’re a concerned voter, journalist, researcher, or just a curious citizen, Donor Lookup puts transparency at your fingertips.

Where do Nevada’s members of Congress like to eat? Here’s what campaign finance data shows (The Nevada Independent)

Wisconsin Supreme Court elections have drawn an ‘obscene’ amount of spending. Here’s why and what can be done about it. (Wisconsin Watch)

NY Gov. Hochul accepted — and is now refunding — thousands in donations from appointees (Gothamist)

Anonymous donors gave $1.3M to Gov. Andy Beshear’s dark money group last year (Louisville Public Media)

Case that lets billionaires spend big on elections never reached Supreme Court (The Washington Post)

In the 2008 cycle, before super PACs, political nonprofits and other groups spent $140 million on independent expenditures. By 2012, independent expenditures in federal races had reached $1 billion, driven by over $600 million in super PAC spending. Over the next dozen years, independent expenditures soared by more than 300 percent to $4.2 billion, mostly due to super PACs, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks federal election spending. 

90 ex-House members call for stock trading ban (The Hill)

“As former members of Congress from both parties, we’re deeply committed to the ongoing health of our democracy and the institution of Congress,” they wrote in the letter, organized by IssueOne and obtained by OpenSecrets. 

Shapiro, Garrity poised for costly governor's race in midterm year (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Mr. Shapiro drew almost $59 million in donations in 2022. The figure dwarfed the contributions to Mr. Mastriano’s campaign, which totaled about $8.2 million, according to OpenSecrets. Mr. Shapiro won by almost 15 percentage points. 

The Latest Thing AI Is Accelerating Is How Much U.S. Elections Suck (Gizmodo)

The amounts of money these groups are throwing around are intense, and way beyond normal spending levels for businesses and “special interests” in the U.S. For reference, the United Auto Worker’s PAC, which is considered pretty influential, raised $15,259,386 for the 2024 election cycle according to OpenSecrets. 

Newly Elected Republicans Jeff Crank and Gabe Evans Cough Up $2,000 Each To Join Swanky Washington DC Social Club (Colorado Times Recorder)

Brendan Glavin, director of insights at OpenSecrets, a D.C. nonprofit that tracks data on campaign finance, said that regardless of the rules on campaign spending, many donors of small amounts may not realize just how much money gets spent on fundraising in campaigns. “It gets brushed aside a lot, how much money gets spent in bringing the money in. It’s a whole economy unto itself,” he said.