US Congress stock trading: Which lawmakers have the biggest bets and made the most trades?

Congressional stock trading is closely watched by many people, almost as closely as the portfolios of super investors. Calls to stop lawmakers from trading stocks are growing louder, but they are still short of full support.

On Wednesday, the US Senate blocked a bill that would have restricted stock trading by members of Congress. Democrats opposed the plan. They argued it falls short of a complete ban, Reuters reports.

A December study by Common Cause found that last year, members of Congress from both parties executed 13,324 trades totaling $635.6 million. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that President Donald Trump notched 21,000 securities trades in 2025, according to media reports in July, which grew his accounts to over $850 million.

Members of Congress are allowed to buy and sell US stocks under current law, and the latest numbers from QuiverQuant show a big difference between who trades the most often and who moves the most money.

Pelosi tops the money list, but not the trade count

QuiverQuant’s data shows Nancy Pelosi had an estimated trade volume of $61.15 million in the past year, the highest of anyone in Congress they track. But she only made 27 trades, much fewer than many other lawmakers on the list.

Pelosi’s estimated net worth has grown to $264.36 million, and her trading activity seems to be keeping up with that.

Her most recent trade was filed on July 28, 2026. Her trading strategy, which QuiverQuant has tracked since May 16, 2014, has returned +983.53%. For comparison, the S&P 500 returned +306.38% in that same stretch.

Most of her trades come from Information Technology, 79 trades there, followed by Financials and Communication Services with 30 each. Her latest buys include Bloom Energy stock and call options worth between $500,001 and $5,000,000, filed on August 21 for trades made on July 24 and July 27.

Those positions are showing estimated excess returns of 63.09% and 46.61%. She also bought Intel call options and shares on the same day, which have returned 27.03% so far.

As per QuiverQuant data, total Trade Volume for Nancy Pelosi stands at $226.11M with Total Trades of 210.

Pelosi’s Trading Record

Metric	Nancy Pelosi
Past-year trade volume	$61.15M
Past-year trades	27
Total trade volume tracked	$226.11M
Total trades tracked	210
Strategy return since 2014	983.53%
S&P 500 return	306.38%
Estimated net worth	$264.36M

Source: Quiver Quantitative

Khanna files the most trades by far

Democratic Representative Ro Khanna made 4,104 trades in the same period, way more than anyone else in the data. His total trade volume came to $58.8 million, almost as high as Pelosi’s, even though he traded far more often.

As per data, total Trade Volume for Ro Khanna stands at $650.04M with Total Trades of 39,622.

Republicans are close behind on money moved

Michael T. McCaul filed 523 trades worth about $26.4 million, making him third on the money list. Tony Wied made just 19 trades but still hit $25.88 million in volume, which means his trades were much bigger on average. Alan Armstrong came next with 369 trades worth around $21.39 million.

Chip Roy made only 3 trades the whole year, yet his volume reached $15.35 million, one of the highest averages per trade in the whole dataset. On the other end, Gilbert Cisneros filed 1,126 trades for about $12.27 million, a much smaller amount per trade.

What lawmakers traded in September

A batch of new disclosures came in late September, and one name showed up again and again in QuiverQuant’s data. Oklahoma Republican Kevin Hern filed several sales on September 25, 2026, for trades made between August 31 and September 9. Every single trade in this batch was a sale, not a purchase. Here’s what he sold:

Apple (AAPL): two separate sales, each between $1,001 and $15,000, both traded September 8

Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIO): one sale between $15,001 and $50,000 traded August 31, and a smaller one between $1,001 and $15,000 traded September 3

Boston Scientific (BSX): three sales ranging from $1,001 to $100,000, traded between September 3 and September 9

Not everyone was selling, though. Ohio Republican Max L. Miller disclosed a purchase in Mercato Partners, worth between $1,001 and $15,000, traded on September 4 and filed on September 27. Unlike Hern’s trades, Miller’s filing looks like it’s for a private or fund-related holding, not a regular stock.

The rules lawmakers have to follow

Members of Congress can legally own US stocks. What they cannot do is trade on insider information; that is banned by law.

The STOCK Act, passed in 2012, bans insider trading by lawmakers and requires them to regularly disclose trades made by themselves and their family members. Under this law, any trade of stock, bonds, or commodity futures worth more than $1,000 has to be reported within 30 to 45 days.

Even so, several lawmakers want to change or end this system altogether.

Governor Ron DeSantis put forward a new proposal in January 2026 aimed at making Congressional stock trading more transparent and accountable. “We are sick of seeing members of Congress with no prior investment acumen all of a sudden turn into Warren Buffett on steroids and put major hedge funds to shame. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!” he said.

Before that, Representative Anna Paulina Luna introduced the End Congressional Stock Trading Act in August 2025. That bill would stop members of Congress, along with their spouses and dependent children, from trading or owning individual stocks, bonds, commodities, or other complex investments.

Senator Josh Hawley also brought back the PELOSI Act (Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments), which would ban lawmakers from trading or holding individual stocks altogether.

Bottomline

The numbers show a clear pattern: a small group of lawmakers accounts for most of the dollar volume in Congressional trading, while trade frequency varies widely from just a handful of trades to thousands.

Whether this gap reflects investment skill, access to information, or simply larger starting portfolios isn’t something the data alone can answer.

Disclaimer: This article provides factual analysis only and is not, and should not be construed as, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Trade values reflect disclosed ranges, not exact figures, and are based on data compiled by QuiverQuant from congressional disclosure filings. Returns and volume figures cited are as reported by the source and have not been independently verified. Investors must conduct their own independent due diligence and seek advice from a registered financial advisor. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information.