In Washington, the spotlight is suddenly focusing on US Representative Seth Magaziner's proposal to ban members of Congress and their families from trading stocks.

Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, and Magaziner, a Rhode Island Democrat, introduced the bipartisan "Restore Trust in Congress Act" in September.

But now, Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, has given the bill new momentum by filing a discharge petition aimed at circumventing the House leadership to force a vote on the legislation.

Magaziner and Roy issued a joint statement on Dec. 2, saying, "The clock is now running. If leadership does not move quickly to put forward a strong ban on congressional stock trading, the members of the body will act.”

In an interview Thursday, Magaziner said he would still prefer to see the legislation go through the regular committee process to make it to the House floor, where he expects it to pass.

But, he said, “Things are very much heating up on this. I don’t have an answer on the path to the floor for a vote just yet, but it’s accelerating.”

The discharge petition requires 218 signatures to be successful. As of Friday morning, the petition had 59 signatures, according to Magaziner's spokesperson. There is no hard deadline for collecting the needed signatures.

Magaziner said he is grateful for Luna's support for the bill. But, he said, "She moved a little faster than we were ready for."

He said the bill's sponsors were still negotiating with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, about bringing the bill to the floor, while also working to shore up support among Democrats for a possible discharge petition.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, has criticized Luna's discharge petition, asking why she has not proposed extending the stock trading ban to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. "If she’s interested in dealing with corruption, do something about the active ongoing crime scene coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the most corrupt administration in American history," Jeffries has said.

Magaziner said Jeffries is concerned with Luna's reliability since she led a separate discharge petition aimed at allowing proxy voting for recent parents, but then struck a deal with Johnson to halt that effort. And he noted that some Democrats are asking why the bill only applies to Congress.

Magaziner said it might be possible to secure enough support for a bill that would also ban stock trading by the president and vice president.

“I would not discount that possibility,” he said. “A lot of Republican members are leaving and might do that on their way out the door. Also, many Republicans face a tough election season and need to show independence from Trump."

Magaziner emphasized that there is solid public support for the proposal. In 2023, a University of Maryland poll found that 87 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Democrats, and 81 percent of independents favor prohibiting stock-trading in individual companies by members of Congress.

Magaziner said that while he hopes Johnson will let the bill to go through committee to a House floor vote, he is confident that Jeffries would allow a quick floor vote if Democrats take control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections.