PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] · D–MI
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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 Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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 Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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 Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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: Feb 11, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-27 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.
This proposal would restrict members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from holding or trading certain defense-related investments. They would have to sell covered holdings within specified deadlines; putting them in a trust that hides investment decisions would not satisfy the requirement. Exceptions would preserve access to certain investment funds and other listed assets. Violations could lead to civil penalties of up to $50,000 each.
Except as provided in subsection (c), no Member of Congress, spouse of a Member of Congress, or dependent child of a Member of Congress may have a financial interest in a covered defense contractor
shall complete the divestment of any asset described in paragraph (1) by not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Placing an asset described in paragraph (1) in a qualified blind trust (as that term is defined in section 13104(f)(3) of title 5, United States Code), or any other blind trust, shall not qualify as a divestment
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation.
Section 1 would name the bill the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act of 2025.
This Act may be cited as the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act of 2025.
A covered defense contractor would include a person or organization that has entered into a contract, transaction, or other agreement with the Department of Defense. Institutions of higher education, as defined in another law, and nonprofit medical treatment facilities would be excluded.
The term covered defense contractor means a person, other than an institution of higher education (as defined under section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) or a non-profit medical treatment facility, that has entered into a contract, transaction, or other agreement with the Department of Defense.
Subject to the listed exceptions, the ban would cover financial interests in covered contractors and investments whose value depends significantly on a covered contractor or an entity in the defense industrial base. It would include stocks, bonds, commodities, futures, hedge-fund interests, derivatives, options, and other complex investments. Trading to dispose of a covered investment would remain permitted.
Except as provided in subsection (c), no Member of Congress, spouse of a Member of Congress, or dependent child of a Member of Congress may have a financial interest in a covered defense contractor, or may own an interest in or trade (except as a divestment) any stock, bond, commodity, future, or any other security the value of which is significantly based upon a covered defense contractor or an entity in the defense industrial base, including an interest in a hedge fund, a derivative, option, or other complex investment vehicle.
Members serving when the bill becomes law, their spouses, and their dependent children would generally have 120 days after enactment to sell covered assets. Interests in hedge funds, venture capital funds, and other privately held complex investment vehicles would have a 180-day deadline. This implementation provision would apply to contractors performing or having performed a Defense Department contract during the five years before enactment.
Except as provided in clause (ii), an individual who is a Member of Congress on the date of the enactment of this Act, or the spouse or dependent child of such an individual, shall complete the divestment of any asset described in paragraph (1) by not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
For an asset described in paragraph (1) that is an interest in a hedge fund, venture capital fund, or other privately held complex investment vehicle, an individual who is a Member of Congress on the date of enactment of this Act, or the spouse or dependent child of such an individual, shall complete the divestment of the asset by not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
This subparagraph shall apply to a covered defense contractor that is performing or has performed a contract for the Department of Defense during the 5-year period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act.
For members taking office after enactment, the general deadline would be 120 days after becoming a member; that clause names members and spouses but omits dependent children. The 180-day deadline for specified privately held complex investments expressly includes dependent children. This implementation provision would use the five years before the member takes office to identify relevant Defense Department contractors.
Except as provided in clause (ii), an individual who becomes a Member of Congress after the date of enactment of this Act, or who is the spouse of such an individual, shall complete the divestment of any asset described in paragraph (1) by not later than 120 days after the date on which the individual becomes a Member of Congress.
For an asset described in paragraph (1) that is an interest in a hedge fund, venture capital fund, or other privately held complex investment vehicle, an individual who becomes a Member of Congress after the date of enactment of this Act, or who is the spouse or dependent child of such an individual, shall complete the divestment of the asset by not later than 180 days after the date on which the individual becomes a Member of Congress.
This subparagraph shall apply to a covered defense contractor that is performing or has performed a contract for the Department of Defense during the 5-year period preceding the date on which the individual becomes a Member of Congress.
Covered assets received while a member serves, including inheritances, would have to be sold within 120 days. The requirement names members, spouses, and dependent children, but its deadline is worded as running from receipt by the “individual or spouse,” leaving the trigger for a child's receipt unclear.
An individual serving as a Member of Congress, or the spouse or dependent child of such an individual, who receives any asset described in paragraph (1) during the period of such service, such as from an inheritance, shall complete the divestment of the asset by not later than 120 days after the date on which the individual or spouse receives the asset.
Moving a covered asset into a blind trust would not count as disposing of it, even if the trust qualifies under the cited federal ethics law.
Placing an asset described in paragraph (1) in a qualified blind trust (as that term is defined in section 13104(f)(3) of title 5, United States Code), or any other blind trust, shall not qualify as a divestment under such paragraph for purposes of compliance with the requirements of this Act.
The bill would define a diversified fund, trust, or plan by its stated investment policy: it must not concentrate investments in an industry, business, a single foreign country, or bonds of one state. Concentration in the United States as a country would not disqualify it under this definition.
The term diversified, with respect to a fund, trust, or plan, means that the fund, trust, or plan 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.
A widely held investment fund could qualify for an exception if it presents no conflict of interest, is diversified, and does not describe an objective or practice of concentrating in covered contractors or defense industrial base entities. The member or family investor must also lack control, including the ability to exercise control, over the fund's underlying financial interests.
a widely held investment fund, if the widely held investment fund— (i) does not present a conflict of interest; (ii) is diversified; and (iii) in the literature it distributes to prospective and current investors or participants, does not indicate the objective or practice of concentrating its investments in covered defense contractors or entities in the defense industrial base, if the Member of Congress, or the spouse or dependent child of such an individual, neither exercises control nor has the ability to exercise control over the financial interests held in the fund
Separate exceptions would permit owning or trading United States Treasury bills, notes, and bonds; investment funds held in government employee retirement plans; and diversified funds registered as investment companies under the cited federal law.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent— (1) a Member of Congress or their spouse or dependent child from owning or trading—
(D) a United States Treasury bill, note, or bond; (E) an investment fund held in a Federal, State, or local government employee retirement plan; or (F) an interest in an investment fund registered as an investment company under section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–3) that is diversified
Members and their covered family members could also own or trade the specified Settlement Common Stock under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent— (1) a Member of Congress or their spouse or dependent child from owning or trading—
(B) shares 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)); (C) shares of Settlement Common Stock, as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)
Spouses and dependent children could trade otherwise covered assets as part of their primary occupation, provided the assets are not owned by the spouse, child, or member of Congress.
a spouse or dependent child of a Member of Congress from trading any asset described in subsection (b)(1) that is not owned by the spouse, child, or Member of Congress in the course of performing the primary occupation of the spouse or child.
The Attorney General or Special Counsel could bring a civil case in federal district court. A violation proved more likely than not could result in a penalty of up to $50,000 per violation. The penalty would not block other remedies already available under law.
The Attorney General or the Special Counsel may bring a civil action in the appropriate United States district court against any Member of Congress or their spouse or dependent child who engages in conduct constituting a violation of this section and, upon proof of such conduct by a preponderance of the evidence, such Member of Congress, spouse, or child (as the case may be) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation.
The imposition of a civil penalty under this subsection does not preclude any other criminal or civil statutory, common law, or administrative remedy, which is available by law to the United States or any other person.
The tax amendments would add members and members-elect to an existing provision concerning nonrecognition of gain—tax treatment under which a gain is not immediately recognized—only for property sales required by this bill. The existing provision's full eligibility and tax conditions are not reproduced.
(e) Nonrecognition of gain (1) In general Paragraph (1) of section 1043(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
(B) any Member of Congress or Member of Congress-elect, but only with respect to a divestment of property required by the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act of 2025, and
The tax changes would add the applicable congressional ethics committee as an issuer of divestiture certificates for members, members-elect, and their spouses. The amendments would apply to property sales after enactment.
(2) Certificate of divestiture Subparagraph (B) of section 1043(b)(2) of such Code is amended—
by inserting , or by the applicable congressional ethics committee (as that term is defined in section 13101 of title 5), in the case of Members of Congress, Members of Congress-elect, and spouses of Members of Congress and Members of Congress-elect after judicial officers.
The amendments made by this subsection shall apply to sales of property after the date of the enactment of this Act.
The Senate and House ethics committees would have to issue guidance explaining relevant terms that the bill does not define.
The Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate and the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives shall issue interpretive guidance regarding relevant terms not defined in this Act.
The supplied February 11, 2026 source snapshot records introduction and referrals to four House committees on February 27, 2025. Its latest listed action is referral to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development on March 28, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-02-11T15:05:35Z.
2025-02-27: Introduced in House
2025-02-27: Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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.
2025-03-28: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-27. 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 provision unrelated to the main subject was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the absence of riders in 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 this version and does not establish formal earmark status in other materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains narrow exclusions, trading exceptions, and a tailored tax accommodation related to its main policy. Identifying these provisions is not a judgment about their justification.
Institutions of higher education and nonprofit medical treatment facilities would be excluded from the covered-defense-contractor definition. This gives those categories special treatment when determining which financial interests the contractor-based restriction reaches.
The term covered defense contractor means a person, other than an institution of higher education (as defined under section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) or a non-profit medical treatment facility, that has entered into a contract, transaction, or other agreement with the Department of Defense.
Members and their covered family members holding specified Alaska Native settlement shares would receive an express exception allowing ownership and trading of those shares despite the section's investment restrictions.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent— (1) a Member of Congress or their spouse or dependent child from owning or trading—
(B) shares 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)); (C) shares of Settlement Common Stock, as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)
Spouses and dependent children whose primary occupation involves trading would receive a work-related exception for otherwise covered assets. It would apply only when the member, spouse, and child do not own the assets.
a spouse or dependent child of a Member of Congress from trading any asset described in subsection (b)(1) that is not owned by the spouse, child, or Member of Congress in the course of performing the primary occupation of the spouse or child.
Members and members-elect would be added to an existing tax provision concerning nonrecognition of gain specifically for divestments required by this bill. This is a tailored tax accommodation for compliance; its full conditions and value are not established by the supplied text.
(e) Nonrecognition of gain (1) In general Paragraph (1) of section 1043(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
(B) any Member of Congress or Member of Congress-elect, but only with respect to a divestment of property required by the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act of 2025, and
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Feb 11, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI