PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] · D–VA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.10199 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-08-31 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposal would prohibit covered federal officials, employees, judges, and some family members from owning or trading specified investments. People already covered when it became law would have 30 days to sell covered holdings at fair market value. Exceptions would allow certain investments, including qualifying diversified funds and government debt. Violations could trigger substantial financial penalties.
(3) Covered individual The term covered individual means any of the following: (A) The President and the Vice President of the United States. (B) A Member of Congress as defined in section 13101. (C) An officer or employee of the Congress as defined in section 13101. (D) A covered executive branch official. (E) A covered judicial official. (F) A dependent child as defined in section 13101 or spouse of an individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D).
(a) Conduct during Federal service Except as provided in subsection (d), no covered individual may, directly or indirectly, own or trade a covered investment.
(B) shall, not later than the effective date established in paragraph (2), divest of any covered investment at fair market value, subject to subsection (c). (2) Effective date The effective date is established as follows: (A) Thirty days after the date of enactment of the Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act, for an individual who is a covered individual on such date of enactment.
(B) does not include— (i) a widely held investment fund described in section 13104(f)(8) that is diversified and publicly traded on a national or regional stock exchange; (ii) a United States Treasury bill, note, or bond; (iii) a State or municipal government bill, note, or bond;
(b) Trading violations Any covered individual who purchases or trades a covered investment in violation of section 13152(a) shall, at the direction of the supervising ethics office— (1) pay a fee equal to— (A) the value of the covered investment involved in such purchase or trade, plus (B) $10,000; and (2) disgorge to the supervising ethics office the profits of any transaction that violates the provisions of this subchapter.
Section 1 would name the legislation the Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act.
1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act.
Section 2 would cover the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and congressional officers and employees as defined in an existing statute. It would also cover their spouses and dependent children, along with spouses and dependent children of covered executive branch officials.
(3) Covered individual The term covered individual means any of the following: (A) The President and the Vice President of the United States. (B) A Member of Congress as defined in section 13101. (C) An officer or employee of the Congress as defined in section 13101. (D) A covered executive branch official. (E) A covered judicial official. (F) A dependent child as defined in section 13101 or spouse of an individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D).
Covered executive branch officials would include agency heads, the heads of the Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission, employees above the GS–15 federal pay grade, and employees outside that pay system earning at least 120 percent of the minimum GS–15 basic pay. The definition also includes senior executive personnel, specified chiefs of staff and deputy chiefs of staff, and special Government employees as defined in existing law.
(2) Covered executive branch official The term covered executive branch official means any of the following: (A) The head of an executive agency, the United States Postal Service, or the Postal Regulatory Commission. (B) An officer or employee of the executive branch who occupies a position classified above GS–15 of the General Schedule, or, in the case of a position not under the General Schedule, for which the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule. (C) An employee in the Senior Executive Service, as defined in section 3132(a), or an employee in a comparable senior executive, senior professional, or senior-level personnel system established for positions in the intelligence community, the foreign service, or elsewhere in the executive branch. (D) A chief of staff to the head of an executive agency, or a chief of staff or deputy chief of staff to the President or Vice President. (E) A special Government employee as defined in section 202 of title 18.
The proposal would cover federal justices and judges under the cited statutory definition, plus Court of Federal Claims judges, bankruptcy judges, and magistrate judges. Its family-coverage clause does not include spouses or dependent children solely because they are related to a covered judicial official.
(5) Covered judicial official The term covered judicial official means— (A) a justice or judge of the United States as defined in section 451 of title 28; (B) a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims; (C) a bankruptcy judge appointed under section 152 of title 28; and (D) a magistrate judge appointed under section 631 of title 28.
(E) A covered judicial official. (F) A dependent child as defined in section 13101 or spouse of an individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D).
Covered investments would include securities, commodities, futures, digital assets, event contracts, and financial arrangements that create comparable investment exposure, including options and warrants. A future commits a buyer or seller to a transaction at a set future date and price. Event contracts concern whether or to what extent specified events occur, subject to the bill's technical definition.
(4) Covered investment The term covered investment— (A) means an investment in a security, a commodity, a future, a digital asset, an event contract, or any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means, such as the use of a derivative, including an option, warrant, or other similar means;
(8) Event contract The term event contract means an agreement, contract, transaction, or swap in an excluded commodity described in section 1a(19)(iv) of the Commodity Exchange Act that are based upon the occurrence, extent of an occurrence, or contingency (other than a change in the price, rate, value, or levels of a commodity described in section 1a(2)(i)), by a designated contract market or swap execution facility (as such terms are defined in the Commodity Exchange Act). (9) Future The term future means a financial contract obligating the buyer to purchase an asset or the seller to sell an asset, such as a physical commodity or a financial investment, at a predetermined future date and price.
Qualifying widely held, diversified investment funds traded on a national or regional stock exchange would be excluded, as would federal, state, and municipal government bills, notes, and bonds. A fund would count as diversified only if it lacks a stated policy of concentrating in an industry, business, a single foreign country, or one state's bonds—except bonds of the covered person's home state.
(B) does not include— (i) a widely held investment fund described in section 13104(f)(8) that is diversified and publicly traded on a national or regional stock exchange; (ii) a United States Treasury bill, note, or bond; (iii) a State or municipal government bill, note, or bond;
(7) Diversified The term diversified, with respect to an investment fund, means such fund does not have a stated policy of concentrating its investments in any industry, business, single country other than the United States, or bonds of a single State within the United States except for the State in which the covered individual resides.
The proposal would exclude employer compensation received by a covered person's spouse or dependent child, interests in qualifying small businesses, and interests in a limited liability company created solely to buy or hold the covered person's personal residence. The small-business eligibility definition comes from an existing statute.
(iv) any compensation received by the spouse or dependent child of a covered individual from their employer; (v) an interest in a small business concern; (vi) an interest in a limited liability company created for the sole purpose of purchasing or holding real estate that serves as the personal residence of the covered individual;
(11) Small business concern The term small business concern has the meaning given that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
The investment restrictions would exclude Settlement Common Stock covered by either of two cited provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
(vii) any share of Settlement Common Stock issued under section 7(g)(1)(A) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(g)(1)(A)); or (viii) any share of Settlement Common Stock as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602).
Covered people would be prohibited from directly or indirectly owning or trading covered investments, subject to the occupational exception. They could not purchase covered investments and would have to sell existing covered holdings at fair market value within 30 days after enactment, or within 30 days after becoming covered if that happens later.
13152. Trade and ownership of covered investments (a) Conduct during Federal service Except as provided in subsection (d), no covered individual may, directly or indirectly, own or trade a covered investment. (b) Compliance (1) Requirement To comply with subsection (a), a covered individual— (A) may not purchase a covered investment; and (B) shall, not later than the effective date established in paragraph (2), divest of any covered investment at fair market value, subject to subsection (c). (2) Effective date The effective date is established as follows: (A) Thirty days after the date of enactment of the Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act, for an individual who is a covered individual on such date of enactment. (B) Thirty days after the date on which an individual becomes a covered individual, if such date occurs after the date of enactment of the Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act.
Section 1043 of the Internal Revenue Code would not apply to property disposals required by the proposal. The supplied text does not reproduce that tax provision, so it does not establish the resulting tax calculation.
(c) Taxation of divestitures Notwithstanding any other provision of law, section 1043 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall not apply to any disposition of property made pursuant to this subchapter.
A spouse or dependent child could trade covered investments as part of their primary occupation if the related covered official or employee does not own the investment. This exception expressly refers to families of covered judicial officials as well as the other listed officials and employees.
(d) Occupational exception A spouse or dependent child of a covered individual described in section 13151(3)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) may trade any covered investment if such covered investment is not owned by such covered individual and if such trade is performed as a function of the primary occupation of the spouse or dependent child.
A covered person who acquires a covered investment after enactment without purchasing it would have 30 days from acquisition to sell it at fair market value. The same exclusion of tax-code section 1043 would apply.
(e) Assets acquired in special circumstances In the event that a covered individual acquires a covered investment after the date of enactment of the Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act other than by purchase, the covered individual shall have 30 days from the date on which such investment was acquired to divest such covered investment at fair market value, subject to subsection (c).
(c) Taxation of divestitures Notwithstanding any other provision of law, section 1043 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall not apply to any disposition of property made pursuant to this subchapter.
The responsible ethics office would have to issue guidance explaining relevant terms that the new provisions do not define. Which office qualifies as the supervising ethics office would depend on an existing statutory definition.
(12) Supervising ethics office The term supervising ethics office has the meaning given the term in section 13101.
(f) Interpretative guidance The supervising ethics office shall issue interpretive guidance on any relevant term not defined in this subchapter.
Missing a sale deadline would trigger a daily fee equal to 10 percent of that day's fair market value of the covered investments still held in violation. Fees would run from the day after the deadline through the date of compliance. The total fee would be capped at 50 percent of the referenced fair market value.
13153. Penalties (a) Failure To divest (1) Daily penalty Any covered individual who fails to divest of a covered investment by the applicable deadline under section 13152 shall pay, for each day of noncompliance, beginning the day after such deadline and ending on the date the covered individual comes into compliance, a fee equal to 10 percent of the fair market value, as of such day, of the portfolio of covered investments owned by such covered individual that remain in violation of section 13152(a). (2) Accrual and limit The fee under paragraph (1) shall accrue for each day of continued noncompliance, except that the total of such fee may not exceed 50 percent of such fair market value.
An unlawful purchase or trade would require payment, at the ethics office's direction, of the investment's value plus $10,000. The person would also have to surrender profits from any transaction violating the new provisions.
(b) Trading violations Any covered individual who purchases or trades a covered investment in violation of section 13152(a) shall, at the direction of the supervising ethics office— (1) pay a fee equal to— (A) the value of the covered investment involved in such purchase or trade, plus (B) $10,000; and (2) disgorge to the supervising ethics office the profits of any transaction that violates the provisions of this subchapter.
Penalties and surrendered profits would go into the Treasury's general fund solely for deficit reduction.
(c) Use of funds A penalty or disgorgement imposed under this section shall be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction.
Covered people could not pay penalties with federal appropriations or other official federal resources. Members of Congress also could not use their specified congressional office accounts, campaign contributions, or other donations supporting their activities as federal officeholders.
(d) Payment restrictions (1) In general A covered individual may not pay any penalty under this section using appropriated funds or any other official resources of the United States. (2) Members of Congress A Member of Congress as defined in section 13101 may not pay any of the penalties under this section by using amounts from the following sources: (A) With respect to a Representative in Congress, a Delegate to Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, the Members’ Representational Allowance. (B) With respect to a United States Senator, the Member’s Official Personnel and Office Expense Account. (C) Any contribution as defined in section 301(8) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)) accepted as a candidate, and any other donation received as support for activities of the individual as a holder of Federal office.
A supervising ethics office would be authorized to determine, assess, and collect trading-violation fees against people under its jurisdiction. That determination would be the agency's final action. This express fee authority refers to trading violations under subsection (b).
(e) Enforcement authority (1) In general A supervising ethics office is authorized to determine, assess, and collect any fee imposed under subsection (b) against a covered individual subject to its jurisdiction, and such determination shall constitute final agency action.
Ethics offices could require compliance records from covered people, demand relevant records from financial institutions and other listed intermediaries through administrative subpoenas, and refer suspected violations to an Inspector General or the Attorney General for investigation.
(2) Investigative authority In carrying out this section, a supervising ethics office may— (A) require a covered individual to submit records sufficient to verify compliance with section 13152, including brokerage statements, trust instruments and accountings, and transaction confirmations; (B) issue administrative subpoenas to financial institutions, brokers, dealers, and trustees for records relevant to a determination under this section; and (C) refer a suspected violation of this subchapter to the appropriate Inspector General or to the Attorney General for further investigation.
Ethics offices could collect trading-violation fees by deducting them from federal salary, pension, or other federal payments under the cited collection law. If a fee remained unpaid 60 days after assessment, the office would have to refer it to the Attorney General, who could sue to recover the amount, interest, and litigation costs.
(3) Collection (A) Administrative offset A supervising ethics office may collect a fee assessed under subsection (b) by administrative offset, in accordance with section 3716 of title 31, against any salary, pension, or other amount payable by the United States to the covered individual. (B) Referral for civil action If a covered individual fails to pay a fee assessed under such subsection not later than 60 days after the date of assessment, the supervising ethics office shall refer the matter to the Attorney General, who may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States to recover the unpaid amount, together with interest and the costs of the action.
Each supervising ethics office would have to publish on a public website a description of every fine it assesses under the new section, the reason for the fine, and the outcome of the assessment.
(f) Publication Each supervising ethics office shall publish on a publicly available website a description of— (1) each fine assessed by the supervising ethics office pursuant to this section; (2) the reason why each such fine was assessed; and (3) the result of each assessment.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated September 8, 2026, records introduction in the House on August 31, 2026, and referral that day to Oversight and Government Reform, House Administration, Judiciary, and Ways and Means for matters within their respective jurisdictions.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-08T18:58:04Z.
2026-08-31: Introduced in House
2026-08-31: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-08-31. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the contents of other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark disclosures and accompanying materials are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains specific exceptions to its investment restrictions. These carve-outs warrant scrutiny as targeted treatment; their classification does not establish that they are improper.
Covered people with interests in qualifying small businesses would be exempt from the investment restrictions for those interests. This favors a specified class of business holdings within the bill's main policy.
(B) does not include—
(v) an interest in a small business concern;
(11) Small business concern The term small business concern has the meaning given that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
Spouses and dependent children would receive an exclusion for employer compensation and a limited exception for trades performed as part of their primary occupation. The trading exception requires that the related covered official or employee not own the investment.
(B) does not include—
(iv) any compensation received by the spouse or dependent child of a covered individual from their employer;
(d) Occupational exception A spouse or dependent child of a covered individual described in section 13151(3)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) may trade any covered investment if such covered investment is not owned by such covered individual and if such trade is performed as a function of the primary occupation of the spouse or dependent child.
Covered people holding their personal residence through a limited liability company would receive a specific exclusion for that company interest, provided the company was created solely to buy or hold the residence.
(B) does not include—
(vi) an interest in a limited liability company created for the sole purpose of purchasing or holding real estate that serves as the personal residence of the covered individual;
Covered holders of the specified Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Settlement Common Stock would receive an express exclusion for those shares from the investment restrictions.
(B) does not include—
(vii) any share of Settlement Common Stock issued under section 7(g)(1)(A) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(g)(1)(A)); or (viii) any share of Settlement Common Stock as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602).
Covered people investing in funds concentrated in their home state's bonds would receive an exception to the rule against single-state concentration. Such funds would still have to satisfy the other requirements for the investment-fund exclusion.
(B) does not include— (i) a widely held investment fund described in section 13104(f)(8) that is diversified and publicly traded on a national or regional stock exchange;
(7) Diversified The term diversified, with respect to an investment fund, means such fund does not have a stated policy of concentrating its investments in any industry, business, single country other than the United States, or bonds of a single State within the United States except for the State in which the covered individual resides.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 8, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI