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Congress Stock Tracker: Here’s What the Most Active Traders Bought to Start 2026
By MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Both Republicans and Democrats are again under scrutiny for buying and selling millions in stocks.
***Money is not a client of any investment adviser featured on this page. The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Money does not offer advisory services.***
Just weeks into 2026, the major stock market indices continue to experience heightened volatility. But despite ongoing uncertainty, one group of investors continues to draw criticism for its ability to outperform the S&P 500.
Members of Congress are facing renewed scrutiny over their active market involvement, often investing and divesting in companies directly affected by policies set by committees upon which they serve.
Repeated attempts to curtail congressional stock trading have stalled, despite strong bipartisan support. In a 2023 survey conducted by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, Americans spanning the political spectrum said they support the cause. Over 80% of Republicans, Democrats and independents said they were in favor of a full ban on trading for members of the House and Senate, as well as the president, vice president and Supreme Court justices.
At least two dozen bills aiming to ban legislators from trading stocks have been introduced by the current 119th Congress. All of them have failed to garner enough support to advance. Meanwhile, members of Congress continue to buy and sell millions of dollars worth of equities.
Who are Congress’ most active traders?
Stock ownership in Congress is extremely common. The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog that supports strong enforcement of U.S. campaign finance laws, found that just 5% of senators and representatives did not own any stocks or funds in 2024.
The other 95% are — to varying degrees — rather active in the markets, according to Quiver Quantitative, a fintech company that aggregates data and tracks government contracts, corporate lobbying and stock trading, among other topics.
Data shows that in 2025, the five most active traders by volume in Congress were:
- Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas, with 1,008 trades and $57,709,500 in volume
- Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., with 4,107 trades and $53,377,500 in volume
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with 19 trades and $51,700,000 in volume
- Rep. Jefferson Shreve, R-Ind., with 556 trades and $29,327,000 in volume
- Sen. Cleo Fields, D-La., with 210 trades and $21,175,500 in volume
The other end of the spectrum offers a stark contrast. Of the 535 members of Congress, only handful are mostly or entirely inactive in the market. Sen. John Kennedy, R.-La., for example, only had one transaction in 2025 that totaled $8,000, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., held no stock at all.
But for the U.S. lawmakers who are active in the markets, what they bought and sold to start the year can provide clues about what congressional traders are expecting in the year ahead.
The stocks lawmakers bought and sold to begin 2026
Since the passage of 2012’s Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, members of Congress have been required to file investment disclosures within 45 days for transactions exceeding $1,000. While the STOCK Act stops short of precluding federal legislators from participating in the market, it provides retail investors with insights about potential opportunities in individual stocks.
For instance, on Dec. 9, McCaul filed 46 transactions including sales of American pawnshop company FirstCash Holdings; ASML Holdings, the world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines; and designer brand holding company Tapestry for gains of 12%, 31% and 48%, respectively.
Among dozens of filings on that date, the representative also purchased shares of automotive services company Valvoline, safety equipment manufacturer MSA Safety and building materials manufacturer Louisiana-Pacific Corporation. Since those buys, those three stocks have gained 18%, 20% and 26%, respectively. So far this year, the S&P 500 has gained just 1.22%.
McCaul, who is co-chair of the Congressional Semiconductor Caucus, a member of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus and a member of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, did not disclose any semiconductor, AI, or cybersecurity stock purchases in his last disclosure.
Khanna, whose 4,081 trades in 2025 were the most of any member of Congress, filed 360 transactions on Dec. 8. The representative from California — who in years past had exited positions with gains as high as 7,137% — was very active in selling semiconductor and microchip stocks, including ASML Holdings, Micron Technologies and Ultra Clean Holdings for gains of 37%, 79% and 154%, respectively.
The congressman’s disclosed purchases included Marriott International, Old Dominion Freight and Deckers Outdoor, which since have gained 35%, 41% and 41%, respectively. Khanna has previously served on the Artificial Intelligence Caucus, the Congressional Antitrust Caucus and the High Tech Caucus in addition to dozens of others.
Pelosi, whose tech-focused portfolio has received considerable media attention, closed 2025 by selling shares of Disney and PayPal on Dec. 30 and adding call options on Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia. Since Dec. 30, shares of PayPal — the sale of which Pelosi disclosed Jan. 23 — are down more than 30%.
On Jan. 2, the congresswoman acquired shares of Versant Media Group as a result of its spin-off from Comcast before buying shares of Vistra Corp., an integrated electric utility company, in addition to Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia and global asset management firm AllianceBernstein Holding on Jan. 16.
The former speaker of the House is serving her final term in Congress and does not hold any standing committee assignments. Pelosi’s net worth is estimated at $272.7 million, making her the fifth-wealthiest member of Congress. (At $664.39 million, Sen. James C. Justice, R-W.V., is No. 1.)
Following his first year in Congress, Shreve prepared for 2026 by buying numerous three- and five-year corporate bonds in addition to two variable annuities. In the second half of 2025, the congressman closed out positions in Advanced Micro Devices, Caterpillar and Albemarle for gains of 81%, 97% and 151%, respectively. The representative from Indiana has a net worth of approximately $599.17 million, making him the second-wealthiest member of Congress.
Meanwhile, as the market continued to rotate out of tech early this year, Fields went all in. On Jan. 8, the congressman purchased shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which are up 14% since, and added Alphabet on Jan. 12, which are down 4% since. On Jan. 20, Fields added more Alphabet as well as Meta Platforms, Netflix and bitcoin miner-turned-AI cloud service provider IREN Limited.
Fields sits on the House Financial Services Committee, including the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the last of which maintains oversight of antitrust law and competition policy.
New bipartisan bill tries (again) to ban congressional stock trading
On Jan. 15, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Ashley Moody, R-Fla., launched a new bipartisan effort to preclude members of Congress from being active market participants.
The Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would ban stock ownership and trading for members of Congress and their immediate family members, serves as companion legislation to a bill introduced in September by Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., which has 126 total cosponsors.
The legislation introduced by Gillibrand and Moody would include assets held in qualified blind trusts, while providing exceptions for “widely held, diversified investment funds like mutual funds and ETFs, as well as U.S. Treasury, state and municipal bonds,” per a news release.
“It is fundamental to our Republic that members of Congress are focused on our nation and its citizens’ well-being, not how they may financially profit from their positions,” Gillibrand and Moody added.
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