Monday: STOCK Act in the Senate

The Senate will meet at 2 p.m. for speeches, and then at 4:30 p.m. to start work on the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which aims to prevent members of Congress from making trades based on non-public information.

Senate consideration of the bill, S. 2038, comes as House Republicans are still deliberating on how to proceed with legislation that limits members' equity trading. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) last month proposed a bill requiring members to set up blind trusts for their holdings.

Days later, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Republicans are still considering how to approach the issue, and want to be sure all relevant committees have a say in how the House proceeds with a bill.

Democrats countered that Cantor purposefully delayed the House version of the STOCK Act, even though it has more than 200 co-sponsors. The bill quickly gained sponsors after a mid-November report on "60 Minutes" alleging that several members — including Bachus — have profited from non-public information.

The Senate will vote at 5:30 p.m. on a motion to involve cloture on the Senate version of the bill, which was introduced last week by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

The House is out today, and returns Tuesday at noon.

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