Congressional stock trading ban passes through committee as Hawley denies reports of White House pushback

A long-awaited stock trading ban passed through the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday, with committee Democrats joining with the bill's sponsor, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to send the bill to the floor of the Senate.

Hawley originally introduced the "PELOSI Act" earlier this year, but what ultimately passed through the dizzying committee markup process on Wednesday was the Honest Act. Both pieces of legislation ban all members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks while in office, in addition to closing various loopholes around direct trades. The critical difference between the two bills is that the Honest Act also bans the president and vice president from making trades while in office. That provision wouldn't go into effect until after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance ...