A Stock Ban With a Voter ID Trap Inside
THE DISPATCH — CIVIC EDUCATION
Congress is about to vote on a bill that mixes two things together. Both parts are a problem, and holding one hostage to the other is not how a fair government should work.
Imagine you are at school. The lunch lady says, "You can have your lunch today. But only if you also hand over your bus pass." You would be upset, right? Lunch and a bus pass have nothing to do with each other.
That is close to what is happening in the U.S. Senate right now. Republican leaders have joined a ban on stock trading by members of Congress with a photo ID rule for voting. The Senate is set to vote on Wednesday, September 30. If you vote no on one part, you are told you voted against the other.
That might sound like inside baseball in Washington. It's not. It's about two things that touch your life: whether the people who write our laws can profit off them, and whether you can cast your ballot without new hurdles.
FIRST: WHAT IS A "RIDER"?
A rider is an extra rule added to a bill that is about something else. Lawmakers use riders to slip a hard-to-pass idea into a bill that people like. Then it is harder to vote no.
WHAT HAPPENED
The bill is called the Stop Insider Trading Act, or H.R. 7008. The House passed it 232 to 198 on July 22, 2026. Thirteen Democrats voted yes. The bill also includes the text of a separate bill, H.R. 9368, which would require voters in federal elections to show a government-issued photo ID, including when they vote by mail.
This is not the first try. The full SAVE America Act failed in the Senate in June, after four Republicans voted against it. On August 8, a smaller photo-ID-only bill from Senator Jon Husted of Ohio failed 52 to 46, short of the 60 votes it needed. That same night, Senators Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, and Rick Scott agreed to let the August break go ahead, in return for another vote in September.
Now Senate Majority Leader John Thune has announced a vote for Wednesday, September 30. He said, "We'll see if the Democrats are willing to take yes for an answer."
WHAT SUPPORTERS OF THE BILL SAY
Supporters say both ideas are popular, so they belong together. They say people should not be able to trade stocks while they write the rules that move markets, and that showing a photo ID to vote is a simple safeguard. Senator Thune argues that Democrats who block the bill are being obstructionist.
WHAT CRITICS SAY
Critics say the trick is the point. Putting a voting rule inside an ethics bill makes it harder to vote against the voting rule. GTC sees it the same way. A real ban on Congress trading stocks should stand on its own. So should any change to how you vote.
On the voting side, the Campaign Legal Center wrote on July 20 that the bill "would demand Americans provide ID to cast a ballot but only accept an unreasonably narrow list of acceptable types of documentation." It said the bill leaves out forms of ID that young people and voters of color rely on more, and does not account for Tribal identification. Congressman Seth Moulton, who voted no, said the bill includes some of the most extreme parts of the SAVE Act and "would functionally end vote-by-mail as Americans know it."
On the stock side, Moulton said the bill has "loopholes for politicians and the President to take advantage of," including a carve-out that protects President Trump and his family. He backs a different bill with no exceptions. So the ethics half is weaker than it sounds.
Closer to home: Queen Anne's County voters already have a deadline of October 13 to register, early voting from October 22 to 29, and mail ballots that many neighbors depend on. A rule that makes mail voting harder would land on real people here, including older neighbors and people who work long shifts.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET
We do not know how the vote will go. Earlier votes needed 60 senators, and Republicans have 53. We do not know if any Democrats will cross over, as 13 did in the House. If the Senate changes the bill, the House would have to vote on it again.
We also do not know if the parts will stay tied together. We will update this post once the result is in. [EDITOR: add the Sept. 30 result before publishing.]
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Call your senators. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. Ask for Senator Chris Van Hollen and Senator Angela Alsobrooks. Tell them: pass a real stock trading ban with no loopholes, and do not tie it to changes in how we vote.
- Check your voter registration today at voterservices.elections.maryland.gov. The deadline to register online or by mail is Tuesday, October 13. Early voting runs October 22 to 29. Election Day is November 3.
- Send this post to three people. Most folks only hear "stock ban" and "voter ID" as two separate headlines. Help them see how they were joined together.
