Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) reportedly took direct aim at House GOP leadership on Tuesday, filing a discharge petition designed to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on legislation banning members of Congress — and their families — from trading individual stocks. The move puts Republican leaders on notice: act on corruption reforms or get out of the way.
Luna had warned for months that if leadership dragged its feet, she would act unilaterally. In a social media video, she made her frustrations clear.
“We have decided because of a lack of movement from the House of Representatives to initiate the discharge petition on banning insider trading,” Luna said. “If leadership wants to put forward a bill that would actually do that and end the corruption, we’re all for it.”
The petition seeks to compel a vote on the Restore Trust in Congress Act, a bipartisan proposal requiring lawmakers to divest their stock holdings or move them into blind trusts — a step ethics advocates say is long overdue.
Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), the bill’s main sponsors, applauded Luna’s effort. “The clock is now running,” they said in a joint statement. “If leadership does not move quickly to put forward a strong ban on congressional stock trading, the members of the body will act.”
Under House rules, a discharge petition forces a bill to the floor once 218 lawmakers sign it — a rarely successful but increasingly popular tool for rank-and-file Republicans frustrated with inaction from their own leadership. Conservatives recently used the mechanism to force a vote on legislation requiring the Justice Department to release Jeffrey Epstein files.
However, even if Luna’s petition meets the signature threshold, leadership still has a potential escape hatch. Earlier this year, when Luna filed a petition to allow new parents to vote by proxy, leaders used a procedural vote to “turn off” the petition’s forcing mechanism. That option remains available.
Still, momentum is already building. Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) signed the petition immediately. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said she plans to sign as well, and Luna posted online that House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) has pledged support.
The push for a stock-trading ban enjoys deep bipartisan support. Public anger has grown as watchdogs and online trackers have documented suspiciously timed trades by lawmakers and their spouses — often outperforming the market in ways that raise serious questions about insider access. Yet behind the scenes, resistance remains strong among members reluctant to give up stock profits, particularly since congressional salaries have been frozen at $174,000 since 2009.
The House Administration Committee held a hearing last month reviewing issues related to the 2012 STOCK Act — a law requiring public disclosure of trades and affirming that lawmakers are not exempt from insider trading rules. But the committee has still not advanced any new legislation.
Luna’s petition now puts pressure on leadership to stop stalling. Whether Johnson caves to growing demands or tries again to block the effort will determine how serious Republican leadership is about rooting out corruption and restoring public trust.
