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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsDomestic PolicyStarted 4yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Should members of Congress be allowed to trade stocks while serving in office?

Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act) in 2012, following more than 10 years of allegations of insider trading by members of Congress and staff. Initially introduced in 2006, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) drafted the STOCK Act in response to insider trading allegations against Tony Rudy, a top aide to the onetime House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay, as well as an insider trading scandal faced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in 2005. Critics argue that The STOCK Act has failed to achieve its goal of penalizing members for…  

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 55.5k America voters.

24%
Yes
76%
No
14%
Yes
68%
No
7%
Yes, but with strict protections against insider trading
4%
No, and their investments should be held in a blind trust
3%
Yes, as long as their trades are publicly reported in real time
4%
No, and do more to prevent insider trading by their friends and family

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 55.5k America voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 55.5k America voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @9GTY55Z from Maryland  answered…3yrs3Y

No, and their investments should be held in a blind trust and do more to prevent insider trading by their family and friends, such as all family members must report their trades in real time.

 @9G3DHMG from Wisconsin  answered…3yrs3Y

No, and their investments should be held in a blind trust as well as doing more to prevent insider trading by their friends and family.

 @9RHYD7S from Michigan  answered…2yrs2Y

Yes, insider trading has nothing to do with one’s ability or trustworthiness to fulfill their office duties

 @9GW5QNG from Minnesota  answered…3yrs3Y

No, their investments should be held in a blind trust; and do more to prevent insider trading by their friends and family.

 @9SBW6KC from California  answered…2yrs2Y

No, and their investments should be held in a blind trust, and do more to prevent insider trading by their friends and family

 @9J4BFZW from Virginia  answered…2yrs2Y

No, their investments should be held in a blind trust and more should be done to prevent insider trading by their family, friends and coworkers

 @9BXBCTN from California  answered…3yrs3Y

Yes, but with strict protections against insider trading and as long as their trades are publicly reported in real time

 @96T2WVQ from Pennsylvania  answered…4yrs4Y

Yes, but with strict protections against insider trading and their investments should be held in a blind trust UNTIL they are NO LONGER IN OFFICE. This could be considered INSIDER TRADING otherwise.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

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About This Data

Based on 55.5k responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should members of Congress be allowed to trade stocks while serving in office?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 26, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/polls/4748564224

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