WATCH: Padilla: “They’re seeking to distract and confuse. The American people deserve better than this.”
October 1, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, took to the Senate floor in opposition to Republicans’ so-called Stop Insider Trading Act, which would allow members of Congress who already own stocks to keep trading and does nothing to prevent the President and Vice President from trading stocks, and includes a voter identification provision from the SAVE Act that would require eligible voters to include photo identification in their mail and absentee ballots, among other provisions. If enacted, this requirement would have been stricter than all 50 states. Once again, Padilla led his Senate colleagues in defeating this anti-voter provision and underscored the importance of holding President Trump accountable for his ongoing corruption, this time, just over a month before Election Day.
The Senate failed to advance the bill by a party-line vote of 53-47, with 60 votes required to pass the bill.
“Here we are, 34 days before Election Day, or, as I like to suggest, 34 days before the final day to vote because we’re encouraging people to cast their ballot early if they can, or vote by mail if and where they can,” said Senator Padilla. “But instead of talking about the issues that are most on the minds of American families, Republicans are here again trying to distract from those issues and to, frankly, create confusion amongst voters in order to protect the President and the party from your failed policies.”
While Republicans claim to express concern over insider stock trading, Padilla exposed Trump’s own corruption and highlighted his previous efforts to prevent it, including the fact that President Trump traded more than 21,000 times in his first year in office, more than every member of Congress combined, increasing his net worth by $4-5 billion. Padilla also called out Trump’s Truth Social service, which sells early inside access to presidential announcements to hedge funds and Wall Street firms. He further detailed the impacts of attaching the voter ID provision to the bill and emphasized MAGA Republicans’ efforts to provoke election chaos.
“The American people deserve to have confidence that their elected representatives are making decisions in the best interest of the American people, and not in your bank account or in your stock investments. But that’s not what this bill will do,” continued Senator Padilla. “This bill does not ban members of Congress from holding stocks or trading stocks, and it exempts the most powerful elected official of all – the President of the United States – from a stock trading ban.”
“Today is not a serious attempt to address the kind of corruption here in Washington that the American people may care about,” said Senator Padilla. “And to add further proof to that point, this isn’t just a sham attempt to ban members of Congress from trading stocks, because it includes a voter ID poison pill in it. This so-called ‘Voter ID’ bill would impose a far stricter and more burdensome federal standard than all 50 states.”
Padilla sounded the alarm on Republicans’ baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, emphasizing their efforts to distract from their failed leadership and policies that are raising costs on American families. Padilla raised concerns about issues that Trump and MAGA Republicans should focus on instead of spreading election and voter disinformation.
“When families are struggling with rising inflation, the rising costs of health care and housing, groceries, mortgages, gas prices, an unauthorized war in Iran. Instead of actually addressing those issues with the real proposals, they’re seeking to distract and confuse. The American people deserve better than this,” Senator Padilla concluded.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee, which has oversight over federal elections, Padilla has led the charge opposing Trump’s overreaching anti-voter SAVE Act. Last month, Padilla led his Senate colleagues in once again defeating MAGA Republicans’ efforts to advance Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio)’s voter ID bill, a provision of the SAVE Act. In July, Padilla tried twice to call up a bipartisan bill that would ban members of Congress and their family members, as well as the President and Vice President, from trading stocks – but Republicans blocked it both times. In June, Padilla led his Senate Democratic colleagues in defeating Republicans’ efforts to include the SAVE Act in their anti-immigrant reconciliation bill twice in one night. During the failed March 2026 “talking filibuster” attempt, Padilla took to the Senate floor four times as a leader in the Democratic opposition to the SAVE Act. Padilla has also led legislation to prohibit the president from monetizing his office by selling inside early access to official announcements to investors.
Video of Padilla’s remarks is available here.
Transcript of Padilla’s remarks is available below:
Mr. President, here we are, 34 days before Election Day, or, as I like to suggest, 34 days before the final day to vote because we’re encouraging people to cast their ballot early, if they can, or vote by mail if and where they can.
But instead of talking about the issues that are most on the minds of American families, Republicans are here again trying to distract from those issues and to, frankly, create confusion amongst voters in order to protect the president and the party from your failed policies.
Now, Senate Democrats, Senate Democrats agree that something real needs to happen to rein in the ability of elected officials, especially members of Congress, from making decisions that impact the companies in their stock portfolios.
That is true. The American people deserve to have confidence that their elected representatives are making decisions in the best interest of the American people, and not in your bank account or in your stock investments.
But that’s not what this bill will do.
This bill does not ban members of Congress from holding stocks or trading stocks, and it exempts the most powerful elected official of all – the president of the United States – from a stock trading ban.
Now let’s be clear, colleagues, because we’ve seen this time and again. When the president makes announcements or posts on Truth Social, he has the potential to move markets, shift the economy. And that’s truly an awesome power, one that nobody should be able to exploit for their own profit.
But that’s exactly what Donald Trump has done and has done over and over again.
That’s why, since returning to office last year, his net worth has grown some 4 to 5 billion dollars, billion with a B, Mr. President.
Now, ABC News showed us that just last year, he made over 21,000 stock trades across 8 accounts – in a matter of 80 – with the average of about 85 trades per day. 85 trades per day!
Does that sound like someone who is singularly focused on improving the quality of life for the American people?
I don’t think so.
Bloomberg News found that President Trump has traded stocks more than every member of Congress combined.
Think about that for a minute.
One person, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, the trader-in-chief, made more stock trades in one year than all 535 members of Congress.
Now, NBC News found that 327 of these were made exactly one day before he rolled back his, quote, “Liberation Day,” tariffs. Was that a coincidence? I think not.
How much grift from his own decision-making? The American people deserve to know.
But the president’s corruption goes even further.
His social media company is literally selling access to hedge funds and Wall Street brokers, early access to his major market-shaping announcements.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Trump has been making more stock trades than all of Congress combined while backing a ban that excludes him.
That’s what the bill before us does. Is it any surprise that the president supports a bill that does nothing to rein him in?
How can we possibly go home and tell the American people with a straight face that we’re stopping the corruption in Washington when the biggest exploiter is the president and he is immune from these – from this bill?
The authors of this bill refuse to put any restrictions or guardrails on the biggest, most corrupt federal stock trader of all.
Now, don’t take that to mean that Democrats don’t want to do anything in this space. We do.
In fact, the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee last year put out a bipartisan bill that would actually address this issue.
But folks watching at home should recognize that that bipartisan bill, with teeth, is not what Republicans have chosen to put on the floor today, 34 days before Election Day.
Instead, it’s this sham bill that doesn’t have the teeth and doesn’t rein in the trader-in-chief.
I’ve tried to bring up that bill, by the way, repeatedly in this Senate, and Senate Republicans have blocked it on multiple occasions.
So, today is not a serious attempt to address the kind of corruption here in Washington that the American people may care about.
And to add further proof to that point, this isn’t just an a – a sham attempt to ban members of Congress from trading stocks because it includes a voter ID poison pill in it.
This so-called “Voter ID” bill would impose a far stricter and more burdensome federal standard than all 50 states.
You know, some states have voter ID, some states don’t. Those that do have laws at the state level that require an ID, but it allows tribal IDs or student IDs, if issued by the state government or a state entity, to count.
But the federal provisions in this bill do not.
And it goes even worse for the one-third of American voters that prefer to vote by mail and they have that option in their state.
And 80% of Californians, by the way.
This requirement that you have to have a copy of your ID in the envelope with your ballot for it to count eviscerates the secret ballot that we value so much.
Here’s what the Republican lieutenant governor of Utah had to say – in Utah, the lieutenant governor is also the state election official – when it was included in the SAVE Act, and now it’s in the measure before us:
Quote, “The SAVE America Act requires a vote to include a photo copy of their ID, violating our constitutional right to a secret ballot.”
So, don’t just take my word for it. Republican governor of Utah.
And she’s not the only Republican opposed to this kind of legislation.
The Republican governor of Ohio vetoed a similar state bill, saying, quote, “The measure would not discourage fraud, would not add any real security, and would create additional and significant burden for Ohioans who vote by mail.”
All for what? For the, uh, in pursuit of the Big Lie?
The president’s been claiming for, what, a decade now about massive voter fraud, while every expert, every study has found the same thing. Despite the conspiracy theories – voter fraud is already illegal – let’s establish that, it’s already on the books as illegal. But it’s also extremely, extremely rare.
So what is this bill truly about, anyway? It’s not cracking down, as Republicans claim it is.
It’s not going to, you know, address the massive voter fraud that does not exist. Again, it’s misdirection. It’s a distraction. And it threatens to suppress the vote. 34 days before the election.
And, all of a sudden, Republicans realize that the only thing they have to show for their control of government for the last two years, right — you’re the majority in the Senate, you’re the majority in the House. Your party occupies the White House.
When families are struggling with rising inflation, the rising costs of health care and housing, groceries, mortgages, gas prices, an unauthorized war in Iran.
Instead of actually addressing those issues with the real proposals, they’re seeking to distract and confuse.
The American people deserve better than this.
And I urge all my colleagues to vote no on this cynical measure. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla
