What Stocks Is Congress Buying?
Members of Congress trade individual stocks — and by law they have to tell you. Here's how to see what they're buying, which tickers show up most, and how to follow the trend as it happens.
Every stock trade a member of Congress makes over $1,000 must be disclosed under the STOCK Act — the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012. That means "what is Congress buying" isn't a guessing game: it's a public record. The catch is that the record is spread across two slow, clunky government portals. Here's how to read it.
Which stocks show up most
Individual positions rotate constantly, but the pattern is remarkably consistent: congressional disclosures skew heavily toward large-cap technology and household blue chips. The names that appear most often include:
- Mega-cap tech — Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA).
- Financials and healthcare — big banks, insurers, and pharma names.
- Broad-market ETFs — index funds used to build or diversify a position.
To know what's being bought right now, you need the latest filings — not last quarter's headlines.
How congressional disclosure works
- The 45-day rule — members file a Periodic Transaction Report (PTR) within 45 days of a trade. The data is delayed by design.
- Ranges, not exact amounts — disclosures report bands like "$15,001–$50,000," so you see scale, not precision.
- Spouses count — trades by a member's spouse and dependent children are disclosed under the member's name.
- Two portals — the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate each publish their chamber's filings separately.
How to track what Congress is buying
- Official portals (free, manual) — authoritative, but you have to search two sites, one member at a time, with no alerts or context.
- Mimic (free app, with alerts) — both chambers combined into one feed, with member photos, party and state, buy/sell direction, dollar ranges, and a push notification when a new trade posts. Filter by buys, by size, or by ticker.
See what Congress is buying — in one feed
Mimic tracks STOCK Act disclosures from 115+ members of Congress across both chambers, with real photos and alerts when a new trade is reported.
Frequently asked questions
What stocks is Congress buying?
Disclosures are dominated by large-cap tech and blue chips — Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, and Meta appear most often. The authoritative source is each member's PTR filed under the STOCK Act.
How do I see what Congress is trading?
Read Periodic Transaction Reports on the House and Senate portals, or use the Mimic app to combine both chambers into one feed with alerts.
Is congressional stock trading legal?
Yes. The STOCK Act requires disclosure within 45 days but does not ban trading individual stocks. As of 2026, no ban has become law.
How current is the data?
Members have up to 45 days to file, so there's a built-in delay. Once filed, a report is public immediately and trackers surface it within a day.