At a December press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked her opinion of proposed restrictions on stock trading by members of Congress. Her response was quick and clear: She hated the idea. “We are a free-market economy,” Pelosi, whose family’s shareholdings exceed $100 million, shot back. “They should be able to participate in that.”

Growing numbers of legislators from both sides of the aisle disagree. Following a series of recent abuses, at least five bills making their way through Congress would forbid lawmakers from owning individual stocks or force them to move their assets into a blind trust. One would make violators turn over any profits they earn to the U.S. Treasury Department. Another would extend the ban to family members. A third would also encompass top staffers.

…

On Jan. 20 the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the antitrust legislation on a bipartisan 16-6 vote. (Only two committee members, Democrats Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, own shares of the tech giants; both voted to advance the measure.) Amazon.com Inc. slammed it as an “ambiguously worded bill with significant unintended consequences.” Despite the new momentum, its fate remains up in the air. There’s no guarantee Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will bring the bill to the floor, many lawmakers in both parties remain adamantly opposed, and the four companies are aggressively lobbying against it.

Supporters plan to ratchet up the pressure by spotlighting lawmakers’ stakes in the tech titans. “For senators who own stock in the companies that are the targets of this bill, voting against it will absolutely put their motivations into question, as it should,” says Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, which advocates stronger antitrust laws. With growing public anger about congressional trading, that’s a message that could soon come from the left and the right.