Nov. 8, 2026, 5:05 a.m. ET
Members of Congress possess information that ordinary investors lack, enabling them to potentially achieve stronger returns when they trade stocks.
Does Congress do better in the stock market than the rest of us?
Insider trading statutes forbid purchasing or selling securities on the basis of nonpublic information. A 2012 provision specifically prohibits members of Congress from engaging in insider trading using Capitol Hill–derived information, and to date no legislator has faced prosecution under this rule, per the Government Accountability Project.
The legislation also obliges members of Congress to disclose their trades within 45 days, providing investors with timely data on their transactions.
Given these safeguards, does Congress outperform the broader market in stock trading?
The findings are mixed; some academic research indicates that congressional selections beat the market, while other studies suggest the opposite. A 2025 report noted that senior congressional officials tend to outperform rank‑and‑file members.
James Kardatzke, chief executive of Quiver Quantitative, has monitored congressional trades since launching the platform in 2020. He observes that investors who concentrate on the stocks most frequently bought by members of Congress have historically achieved returns that surpass the market over recent decades.
In 2025, through early December, members of Congress executed 13,324 trades amounting to $636 million, according to a Common Cause report.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D‑CT) completed 406 trades valued at roughly $80 million, positioning him as the leading congressional trader of 2025. Representative Michael McCaul (R‑TX) executed 1,029 trades totaling nearly $76 million.
The top-performing congressional trader of 2025 was Representative Tim Moore (R‑NC), whose portfolio rose 52% that year, according to Quiver Quantitative. (Moore lost his seat in the November elections.) Senator Ted Cruz (R‑TX) recorded a 50% increase in his portfolio.
Jordan Libowitz, vice president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, cautioned, “Not all members succeed; some have amassed substantial gains while others have incurred large losses.”
Copycat traders mimic congressional stock picks
Nevertheless, widely shared stories of congressional gains have spurred copycat investors who purchase the same securities in hopes of replicating those returns.
“The underlying premise is that members of Congress often possess a solid grasp of whether legislation will succeed or fail,” observed Caleb Silver, editor‑in‑chief of Investopedia.
Advances in online platforms such as Quiver Quantitative have simplified the tracking of these selections.
Kardatzke announced that his firm intends to introduce an exchange‑traded fund next year that will mirror congressional stock transactions, thereby offering investors an even more convenient way to emulate congressional trades.
He and his twin brother, the site’s co‑founder, were originally motivated by news reports describing how members of Congress attend confidential briefings on topics such as the COVID pandemic, then act on that knowledge by selling large positions of stock.
Why do members of Congress buy specific stocks? It’s hard to tell.
Determining whether a congressional member is engaging in insider trading is difficult to ascertain from public filings, and their underlying motives remain opaque.
“You can’t discern their rationale,” noted Seth Benjamin Mullikin, a certified financial planner based in Charlotte, North Carolina. “They may view the purchase as a long‑term investment, or they might possess information about the oil market that is unavailable to the public.”
Replicating congressional trading success is challenging for everyday investors because of timing; legislators have up to 45 days to disclose their trades, meaning the information becomes public after the transaction has occurred.
Libowitz added, “By the time the data becomes public, the trade has already been executed, so investors are not positioned ahead of market movements.”
His organization advocates for a complete prohibition on members of Congress owning individual stocks.
The Stop Insider Trading Act, which sought to forbid members of Congress and their families from purchasing individual stocks, cleared the House in 2026 but ultimately stalled in the Senate.
President Donald Trump called for the bill’s passage, yet Democrats opposed it, arguing it did not go far enough by failing to prohibit stock ownership outright. During the election cycle, both parties accused one another of profiting from congressional stock trades.
Should everyday investors buy the same stocks as Congress?
Regardless, there is no ethical issue for ordinary investors who wish to purchase the stocks favored by Congress, since they lack any privileged information, according to Libowitz and others.
Libowitz affirmed, “I see no ethical problem with that.”
Nevertheless, experts offer mixed assessments of using congressional stock tracking as an investment strategy.
Silver of Investopedia points out that the primary challenge for retail investors is the lack of clarity regarding the timing and rationale behind congressional trades.
He warned, “Following congressional picks after the fact is not a disciplined approach; it is essentially a gamble.”
Meier of The Motley Fool suggests a more prudent approach: treat congressional trades as one piece of evidence when deciding whether to purchase a stock you already favor.
“Providing additional data that reinforces an existing belief can be valuable,” Meier noted, “but investors should always conduct their own thorough research.”