Senate Democrats Block Stock Trading Ban With Voter ID Provision › American Greatness– amgreatness.com

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked legislation that would have banned members of Congress from trading stocks while also imposing a voter identification requirement.

The Senate voted 53-47 along party lines, leaving the “Stop Insider Trading Act” seven votes short of the 60 needed to advance.

The House had previously approved the legislation with support from Republicans and 13 Democrats. Wednesday’s Senate vote effectively ends the measure’s chances of reaching President Donald Trump’s desk before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

While the legislation sought to prohibit lawmakers from trading individual stocks, Democratic opposition centered largely on Republicans’ inclusion of a voter ID provision.

Republicans have separately sought passage of the SAVE America Act, legislation that would establish voter identification requirements. Democratic opposition has prevented that measure from advancing, prompting Republicans to attach voter ID provisions to other legislation.

The Senate vote puts Democrats on record opposing a measure that combined two priorities Republicans have promoted ahead of the midterms: restricting congressional stock trading and strengthening identification requirements for voting.

The House’s passage of the legislation, including votes from 13 Democrats, demonstrated some bipartisan support for banning congressional stock trading. But the addition of the voter ID provision helped ensure the legislation could not secure the Democratic votes necessary to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.