The US Senate on Wednesday voted down a Republican-led effort to restrict stock trading by members of Congress, as Democrats opposed the legislation and objected to related voter identification rules attached to the bill.
The final tally was 53 in favor and 47 against, falling short of the 60 votes required to proceed to debate on the Stop Insider Trading Act. The measure had already been passed by the Republican-controlled House in July.
Every Democrat and independent senator voted against the bill. Critics argued that the legislation did not go far enough to limit lawmakers’ financial portfolios and contained a “poison pill” involving voter ID requirements that they found objectionable.
The defeat comes approximately five weeks before the November 3 midterm elections.
I’m just surprised this made it to the floor at all. Seems like a lot of effort to pass something that was doomed from the start.
53-47 is close, but 60 is the magic number in the Senate. They knew they couldn’t get it done, yet they pushed forward anyway.
Does anyone actually think this bill would have passed without the voter ID section? It seems like a political stunt, pure and simple.
So nothing changes then? Congress can keep playing the market with taxpayer info while we starve. Truly appalling.
Classic poison pill strategy. Democrats were right to walk away from a deal that compromised their principles for a win they couldn’t win anyway.