Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a House-passed bill to ban the purchase of individual stocks by members of Congress.
Every Democrat voted against advancing the bill, which failed on a party-line 53-47 vote.
It would have prohibited members of Congress and their close family members from making new purchases of individual stocks and required them to disclose stock sales at least a week in advance.
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The bill included election-related provisions, sought by President Trump, requiring voters to show photo ID in federal elections.
Senate Democrats, who had blocked ID requirements several times before, signaled beforehand they would not change course.
“If Republican senators really cared about stopping stock trading by members, they wouldn’t have loaded it up with a poison pill voter ID bill, which Senate Democrats have defeated already twice,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, on the Senate floor Tuesday. “All they really want is to score political points before they head home to campaign.”
Mr. Schumer also criticized the bill for allowing members to continue to sell stocks and for not including a stock trading ban for the president.
The House passed the bill in July by a vote of 232-198, with 13 Democrats joining all Republicans.
Polling suggests a congressional stock trading ban is popular with voters.
A 2023 survey conducted for the University of Maryland found that 86% of polled registered voters favored banning lawmakers and their families from trading individual stocks.
Lawmakers’ support for a ban has become a common subject in campaign ads ahead of Election Day.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, criticized Democrats before the vote for opposing its photo ID provisions.
“While the American people overwhelmingly support a photo ID requirement, for some bizarre reason, congressional Democrats have decided that photo ID for voting is a step too far,” said Mr. Thune.
“Either Democrats are just reflexively opposing this proposal because it came from Republicans, or Democrats believe that there are, in fact, people out there voting illegally, and that it’s benefiting Democrats and they like to keep that going,” he said.
The bill was championed by Sen. Pete Ricketts, Nebraska Republican, who is in a competitive Senate race with independent candidate Dan Osborn.
“Public service is a privilege, not a profit center,” Mr. Ricketts said in a statement when he introduced the bill. “Trust in Congress remains at an all-time low. To fix that, we need to prove we are playing by the same rules as everyone else.”
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