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 +0.38%), Nvidia (NVDA +1.59%), Microsoft (MSFT +0.51%), Amazon (AMZN -0.68%), and Apple (AAPL -0.56%).

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.