U.S. Sen. Susan Collins does not support her Republican colleague’s bill to ban lawmakers, presidents and vice presidents from trading stocks, while U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, likes the measure that a committee advanced Wednesday.
The proposal from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, has a carveout for President Donald Trump. It would apply to buying and selling stocks and other “covered investments,” such as futures, cryptocurrencies, commodities and corporate bonds. Officials could still invest in mutual funds, exchange traded funds and Treasury bonds.
Hawley joined Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to advance the bill 8-7 on Wednesday, while all other Republicans opposed it. The measure is causing infighting on an idea that broad majorities of voters favor but that has failed in previous years to gain support among members of Congress targeted by the legislation.
Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, had opposed similar efforts a few years ago by arguing for better enforcement of existing rules, such as a 2012 law she backed that bans lawmakers from trading stocks based on information obtained from their official roles.
Collins spokesperson Blake Kernen echoed that past explanation in a statement Thursday on how Maine’s lone Republican in Congress views Hawley’s proposal.
“Insider trading is already illegal, and Sen. Collins believes that the law that is already in place, in addition to the robust financial disclosure requirements, provide appropriate safeguards and should be enforced,” Kernen said.
Neither Collins nor King traded individual stocks last year, according to their most recent Senate financial disclosures.
Collins mirrored her past reports by saying her husband, Tom Daffron, a former Senate staffer who also ran a lobbying firm, owns all the couple’s stocks. The shares in companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and UnitedHealth Group were worth at least roughly $1.5 million, per the disclosure.
The couple’s portfolio rose in value by about 77.5 percent in 2024, which put Collins eighth among members of Congress for growth, according to the Unusual Whales platform. The senator’s office has said over the years a third-party adviser makes Daffron’s investment decisions and that neither Collins nor Daffron are involved in the purchase or sale of stocks.
Collins’ most recent financial disclosure for calendar year 2024 mirrored her past reports by attributing all stock assets to her husband, Tom Daffron, a former Senate staffer who also ran a lobbying firm. The shares in companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and UnitedHealth Group were worth at least roughly $1.5 million, per the disclosure.
The couple’s portfolio reportedly rose in value by about 77.5 percent in 2024, which put Collins eighth among members of Congress for growth. The senator’s office has said over the years a third-party adviser makes Daffron’s investment decisions and that neither Collins nor Daffron are involved in the purchase or sale of the stocks.
King spokesperson Dana Youngentob said Thursday the independent who caucuses with Democrats “is in favor of the objectives of the Hawley bill” and noted he had cosponsored a similar measure from U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, that did not get floor votes last year.
Youngentob added it is “unlikely” or “unknown” if Hawley’s bill will come to the floor for votes due to “no general consensus among Senate Republicans” on the legislation.
King’s most recent disclosure for 2024 had him and his wife, Mary Herman, reporting stock assets worth at least roughly $320,000 and including companies such as Nike, UnitedHealth and Apple.
U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats who represent Maine’s 1st District and 2nd District, respectively, have not reported individual corporate stock ownership in recent years. They have each supported stock trading bans for members of Congress.
Hawley initially set out to only apply the ban to lawmakers before amending it to apply to presidents and vice presidents, though the compromise gives officials who are elected before the bill takes effect until the start of their next term to divest their assets. That would exempt Trump, who is in his second and final term through 2028. Politicians who are elected after the bill’s enactment would have 90 days to sell existing assets.
Trump said he “conceptually” supports the idea but bashed Hawley as a “second-tier” senator for voting with Democrats to defeat an amendment from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, to require a report on stock trades by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and her husband, Paul, whose lucrative stock deals have previously drawn Republican criticism.
Pelosi said she supports Hawley’s amended bill that had its title changed from the “PELOSI Act” to the “HONEST Act.” It is up to Senate Majority John Thune, R-South Dakota, to decide on bringing the bill to the floor for a vote.