WisDems: ICYMI: Van Orden Campaigns on a Stock Trading Ban That Isn’t a Full Ban

MADISON, Wis. — New reporting from UpNorthNews exposes Derrick Van Orden for supporting a phony ban on stock trading for members of Congress. The “Stop Insider Trading Act” that Van Orden supports still allows loopholes for the wealthiest members of Congress to continue profiting from stocks they own. The reporting also describes how Republicans purposefully added a “poison pill” to the bill, which included language unrelated to stock trading that would restrict voting accessibility to ensure Democrats would not vote for the bill. 

UpNorthNews: Van Orden Campaigns on a Stock Trading Ban That Isn’t a Full Ban
By: Pat Kreitlow | 9/30/26

US Rep. Derrick Van Orden has “allowed congressional stock trading,” claims an ad from his Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke, while Van Orden responds in an ad that her assertion is “total bull$#!+” and that he supports a ban on members of Congress trading stocks and profiting from the inside information they receive on an almost-daily basis.

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Over the years, there have been many proposals to ban members of Congress from engaging in some form of financial transactions, but none have passed even as senators and representatives from both parties executed as much as half a billion dollars worth of stock trades from January 2025 to August 2026. (The exact amount is unknown because financial disclosure forms ask for ranges rather than precise dollar values.)

Poison pills and preferential exemptions

Different types of legislation have targeted different types of trading — from stocks and bonds to commodities, cryptocurrency, and other securities. Van Orden touts his support for the “Stop Insider Trading Act,” which supporters say will limit members, spouses and their dependents from trading individual stocks. However, it would let lawmakers keep the shares they already own. There would be exemptions for trusts and some other assets. And Republicans refused to add the president and members of the administration from the limits.

Republicans went on to add a “poison pill” to the bill — unrelated language related to a photo ID requirement when voting — assuring Democrats would not support the bill, giving Republicans a reason to claim Democrats voted against a stock trading ban.

A Democratic alternative, the “Restore Trust in Government Act,” expands a stock trading ban to the president, vice president, and their families, something promoted by Cooke.

“When I get to Congress, I’ll support a stock trading ban for Members of Congress AND the president and VP,” she posted to social media.

Van Orden: Trump isn’t insider trading

Van Orden acknowledged that members of both parties have engaged in stock trading while he has not — but he said he doesn’t believe President Donald Trump is using any inside information to personally profit from the presidency.

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Trump has executed more than 20,000 stock trades since beginning his second term in the White House, more than all 535 members of Congress combined. His personal net worth has increased at least $2 billion through investments and businesses, about half of that in cryptocurrency.

The lack of limits on the president and other exemptions in the bill Van Orden is supporting led the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to call it “a joke.”

“It’s a farce that maintains the status quo and provides members of Congress with loopholes so that they can continue to enrich themselves, all while claiming to advance meaningful reform,” said CREW Executive Director Donald Sherman.

So as Van Orden talks up his support of a bill that purports to limit some congressional stock trading, critics like Cooke counter the bill is so watered-down compared to other proposals as to constitute tacit support of ongoing profiteering from inside information.