'Frustrated' Republicans fume as popular Trump-backed bill stalls out

Republicans in the House are growing increasingly irate as a bill backed by Donald Trump with rare bipartisan support appears to have stalled out, according to a Friday report from The Hill.

Trump's political agenda has become increasingly unpopular throughout his second term, threatening the GOP's chances to survive the midterms as they struggle to address issues voters care about. The president has, however, backed a new bill that would place new restrictions on congressional stock trading, an issue that voters across the political spectrum have shown overwhelming support for. The bill even has some bipartisan support in Congress, but GOP members are growing frustrated as it struggles to make progress, despite being "overdue."

"If you have a strong bipartisan majority in Congress [supporting the issue], if you have overwhelming support from the public. You have the president of the United States specifically referencing it in the State of the Union, why pray tell is it not put on the floor?” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, told The Hill. "It’s very frustrating. This should have been the first thing we took up.”

The bill was introduced last month by Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican and the House Administration Committee Chair. It would bar members of Congress from buying new stocks and require a week's notice for any stocks they intend to sell. However, the bill does not go far enough for some, as it notably allows members to keep any stocks they owned before taking office.

The public has grown increasingly skeptical of congressional stock trading, amid a wave of stories over the last several years about members growing their portfolios massively while in office and seeming to make trades after being briefed on information that would impact certain stocks. Trump himself gave his support for Steil's bill during his State of the Union speech, saying it would "ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information," and expressing surprise when the comment drew applause from Democrats.

Democrats have, however, also called for the bill to ban trading for the president, the vice president and their families, a notion the White House has strongly opposed.

“PASS THE STOP INSIDER TRADING ACT NOW!” MAGA Rep. Anna Paulina Luna wrote in a post to X, adding later, “This is going to be a great vote. Banning insider trading needs to happen!”

“We move at a very record slow pace,” GOP Rep. Tim Burchett told The Hill about the hold-up. “We always have, since I’ve been there under Democrats and under Republicans.”

As recently as Wendesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson only said that the vote would come "soon."

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