Congressional Stock Trading: Who Trades and Makes the Most

More than 100 members of Congress have made around 10,000 stock trades each year since at least 2021 -- and they tend to beat the market. Enough attention has been drawn to timely trades by lawmakers – and the market-beating returns of some – for legislation to ban members from trading stocks to advance out of a Senate committee, although it still has a long road to being signed into law.

How do some members of Congress manage to beat the market? The stocks that representatives and senators trade the most are household names: Alphabet (GOOG -1.22%), Nvidia (NVDA -2.82%), Microsoft (MSFT -2.86%), Amazon (AMZN -1.79%), and Apple (AAPL -0.13%).

Others made savvy trades involving companies and sectors related to legislation they work on and committees they sit on that oversee those companies and sectors, raising questions about conflicts of interest and insider trading.

For example:

• In 2023, Nvidia was traded or held by Congressmembers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), while the CHIPS and Science Act was being negotiated and voted on.
• Congressmembers continued to trade Nvidia in 2024 and 2025 amid on-again, off-again export controls on high-end AI chips.
• In 2024, members made a series of trades involving social media companies while the TikTok ban and divestment bill was being negotiated and voted on.
• Members of committees that deal with national security traded shares of defense companies, while others on committees that oversee health traded medical device stocks.

Dive deeper into stock trading by members of Congress below, including who’s trading the most and netting the biggest returns.

A note on the data used in this article: Data on stock trading by members of Congress varies widely between sources due to differences in data collection, difficulties with data collection, and different methodology in parsing that data. Figures from multiple sources are included when possible.

How Much are Members of Congress Trading Stocks?

More than 100 members of Congress make around 10,000 trades per year. Capitol Trades reports that 140 members of Congress made 14,451 trades in 2025, totaling $720 million in shares and other assets.

Unusual Whales, a financial data platform, also reported trades from 102 members in 2025.

The Members of Congress Making the Most Trades

These are the members who have made the most trades through December 2025, along with their respective trade volume, according to Capitol Trades.

What Stocks Are Members of Congress Buying and Selling?

Alphabet, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple were the five most-traded stocks among members of Congress in 2025, according to Capitol Trades.

Here’s how members approached each of those companies:

• Alphabet shares have been sold heavily by members of Congress through December 2025, with the largest dump occurring in May. This sell-off continued through the remainder of the year, with a handful of members buying more shares. Unusual Whales estimates that roughly $3.8 million in shares of Alphabet were bought by members of Congress in 2025, and $8.2 million were sold.
• Nvidia share purchases by members of Congress skyrocketed in May after the stock was sold for most of the year. The stock often moves on news of related government policy, particularly export controls on chips sought by China, which have been tightened and loosened in the past year. According to Unusual Whales, $4.6 million in Nvidia shares were sold in 2025, and $11.6 million were bought.
• Microsoft was just barely a net buy for members through December 2025, based on volume. Democrats bought Microsoft in 40 instances and sold in 37, while Republicans bought in 26 instances and sold in 46, per Capitol Trades. Members loaded up on shares in January. Roughly $5.7 million worth of Microsoft shares were sold, and $6.6 million in shares were purchased in 2025, according to Unusual Whales.
• Amazon was a net buy for members of Congress through December 2025. Purchase volume roughly doubled the sales volume. Unusual Whales estimates that $3.9 million worth of Amazon shares were bought and $1.9 million were sold.
• Apple was a net buy among members of Congress by volume traded. Through July 2025, most shares were sold in April and purchased in May, according to Capitol Trades. By December 2025, Apple became a net seller in both trading volume and instances. Unusual Whales estimates that $3.8 million in Apple shares were sold and $3.7 million were bought by members of Congress in 2025.

What Sectors Are Most Popular Among Members of Congress?

Technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer cyclicals, and industrials were the most bought and sold sectors among members of Congress in 2025, according to Unusual Whales.

Democrats tilted their portfolios toward technology and communications services stocks, while Republicans were net sellers of tech and financial services stocks. Republicans favored crypto more than Democrats – the GOP purchased $2.9 million worth of cryptocurrency in 2025.

Overall, Democrats were net buyers in 2025 while Republicans were net sellers. Democrats bought $130.8 million worth of shares and sold $100 million, while Republicans purchased $194.6 million and sold $197.4 million, according to Unusual Whales.

Did Congress Beat the Market in 2025?

Of the 311 portfolios disclosed by members of Congress, 100, roughly 32%, outperformed the S&P 500 in 2025, according to Unusual Whales. Democrats averaged 14.4% and Republicans 17.3%, and the S&P 500 returned 16.6%, per Unusual Whales. Among members who made a trade in 2025, 29 had returns higher than the S&P 500’s 16.6%.

Unusual Whales calculates performance based on the value of stocks held at the start of the year and end of the year, not the performance of individual positions since they were originally opened. As a result, the estimates are likely conservative.

Members of Congress With the Best Performance in 2025

1. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): 78.8%
2. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ): 70.8%
3. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL): 67.9%
4. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI): 62.5%
5. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA): 61.7%
6. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY): 61.6%
7. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL): 54.8%
8. Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS): 52.5%
9. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA): 50%
10. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA): 41.9%

Data source: Unusual Whales (2026).

Rep. Warren Davidson’s impressive returns in 2025 were due to significant purchases of GE (GE +0.40%) and GE Vernova (GEV +3.35%), according to Unusual Whales.

Rep. Donald Norcross managed a nearly 71% gain in 2025 holding shares of just two companies: Cigna (CI +1.42%) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD +0.98%).

Rep. Terri Sewell’s 67.9% return in 2025 was fueled at least in part by her purchase of Nvidia shares in April 2025. She was the only active trader in 2025 to make the top five highest returns among members of Congress holding stocks.

Rep. Bryan Steil wasn’t an active trader in 2025, but he disclosed trades of Caterpillar (CAT +1.71%), GE, GE Vernova, and Ford (F -0.65%) last year.

Sen. Alex Padilla is another member who didn’t report any trades in 2025. His holdings include a range of ETFs, including those that cover natural resources, energy, emerging markets, and gold.

Members of Congress With the Worst Returns in 2025

1. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX): -59%
2. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA): -33.9%
3. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN): -26.9%
4. Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL): -22.2%
5. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ): -21%
6. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH): -12.8%
7. Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC): -11.9%
8. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY): -10.9%
9. Rep. Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL): -9.6%
10. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX): -4%

Data source: Unusual Whales (2026).

Rep. Chip Roy had the worst market performance last year due to his investment in one stock, Atlas Energy Solutions (AESI +2.21%), which had a rough year, according to Unusual Whales.

Rep. Jim McGovern similarly held just one stock, Owens Corning (OC +2.28%), that had a poor year.

Rep. Pete Stauber purchased shares of Newell Brands (NWL +1.38%) in the fall of 2025, only for the stock to precipitously decline over the rest of the year.

Congressional Stock Trading Rules

Members of Congress and their immediate families are free to buy and sell stocks as long as trades of $1,000 or more are reported within 45 days, as required by the 2012 STOCK Act.

Members of Congress are not prohibited from trading stocks that involve companies that could be affected by legislation they are considering or companies they oversee through committee assignments.

Insider trading laws do apply to members of Congress, but information gained from their work may not meet the definition of insider information.

What’s Next for Stock Trading in Congress?

Members of Congress have come under increasing scrutiny for stock trading, particularly when trades involve companies under the jurisdiction of the committees they sit on or when they trade stocks that may be affected by legislation and other policy decisions for which they have unique insight.

A 2022 New York Times analysis found that 97 members of Congress -- nearly a fifth of elected representatives and senators -- made trades from 2019 to 2021 that could amount to conflicts of interest based on their committee assignments.

There has been a steady stream of stories on members of Congress making trades at opportune moments in the past five years. These include trades made prior to the onset of COVID-19 in the U.S., around the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and in advance of the Ukraine–Russia war and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Those stories and the creation of databases to track Congressional stock trading have spurred some in Congress to draft legislation to ban members (and their spouses) from trading individual stocks. Former President Joe Biden even threw his support behind a ban on Congressional stock trading on his way out of office.

A bill to ban stock trading by members of Congress, their spouses, and future presidents and vice presidents was passed out of a Senate committee in July 2025, but congressional leadership hasn’t made its opinions known on the legislation. Similar legislation moved out of committee in 2024 but was never voted on by the full Senate.

While politicians are weighing what to do about stock trading rules, the public overwhelmingly supports banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks. A 2023 Nielsen survey found that 86% of Americans supported a ban on members of Congress trading in individual companies' stocks.

The argument for a ban that the public found most convincing? There are too many potential conflicts of interest for members of Congress to buy and sell individual stocks.

Sources

• Capitol Trades (2026). “When Politicians Got It Right in 2025.”
• Newsweek (2023).”Politicians Profit as Military Stocks Soar Since Hamas-Israel Conflict.”
• Newsweek (2023). “Republican Senator's Stock Trade Linked to Ukraine War Raises Eyebrows.”
• The New York Times (2023). “As Fears of Banking Crisis Surged, Members of Congress Sold Bank Shares.”
• The New York Times (2022). “Stock Trades Reported by Nearly a Fifth of Congress Show Possible Conflicts.”
• ProPublica (2020). “Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness.”
• Quiver Quantitative (2025). “Congress Trading Dashboard.”
• Roll Call (2024). “These lawmakers are still invested in banning congressional stock trades.”
• TrendSpider (2025). “U.S. Congress and Senate Trading.”
• University of Maryland Program for Public Consultation (2023). “Ban on Stock Trading for Members of Congress Favored by Overwhelming Bipartisan Majority.”
• Unusual Whales (2026). “Congress Trading Report 2025.”
• Unusual Whales (2025). “Congress Trading Report 2024.”
• Unusual Whales (2024). “Congressional Trading 2023.”
• Unusual Whales (2023). “2022 Congressional Stock Trading Report.”