Bipartisan proposals that would require lawmakers to put assets into blind trusts are facing resistance from watchdogs who say they wouldn’t go far enough and that members should be forced into broad-based mutual funds.
A push to ban lawmakers from trading stocks is running into a thicket of technical questions that threaten to derail the effort, compounding the looming political pitfalls.
Bipartisan proposals that would require lawmakers to put assets into blind trusts are facing resistance from watchdogs who say they wouldn’t go far enough and that members should be forced into broad-based mutual funds. Key taxation questions are unresolved. And the scope of a ban — including whether it would apply to spouses and aides — is up in the air.
“The political debate here has not been in touch with the underlying policy and how the average lawmaker makes their economic life work,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who wants Congress to update disclosures rather than enact a ban. “We have to be thoughtful in this approach.”
Below is a rundown of the key questions lawmakers will have to answer.
