About Congress Stock Tracker
How we collect, process, and present congressional financial disclosure data.
Congress Stock Tracker is an independent public database of stock trades disclosed by members of the United States Congress. Our mission is to make congressional financial disclosure data accessible, searchable, and understandable for everyone — journalists, researchers, investors, and engaged citizens.
All data is sourced exclusively from official government portals: the House of Representatives financial disclosure portal and the Senate's Periodic Transaction Report database. We process the official PDF filings, extract trade data, and present it in a clean, searchable format.
Congressional trading transparency matters. When legislators with access to non-public information about upcoming regulations, contracts, or policy changes can freely trade in affected companies, it raises serious questions about conflicts of interest and market fairness. The STOCK Act was a step toward accountability, but its 45-day disclosure lag and range-based reporting still limit real-time visibility. Our goal is to close that gap as much as the law allows.
What we cover
House PTR filings
All Periodic Transaction Reports filed with the House of Representatives financial disclosure portal, from 2012 to present.
Senate PTR filings
Periodic Transaction Reports filed through the Senate's electronic disclosure system, covering all 100 Senators.
Amendments
Amended filings that correct or update previously disclosed transactions. We track originals and amendments separately.
All asset types
Stocks, options, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, real estate, private equity interests, and other disclosed asset classes.
Spousal & dependent trades
Trades made by a Congress member's spouse or dependent children are also required to be disclosed.
Committee assignments
We display each member's committee assignments so you can cross-reference trades with their legislative oversight roles.
Data methodology
Data collection: We download PDF disclosure filings directly from the official government portals. For the House, we use the annual filing index at disclosures-clerk.house.gov. For the Senate, we query the Senate PTR search portal.
Parsing: Each PDF is processed using automated text extraction (pdftotext). We apply pattern matching to identify individual trade records, extracting asset name, ticker, transaction type, date, and dollar range. Due to variations in PDF formatting across years, some edge cases may result in missed or malformed records.
Deduplication: The same trade can appear in both an original and an amended filing. We use a combination of document ID, ticker, transaction date, type, and amount range to deduplicate records, prioritizing the most recent filing.
Volume estimates: Because exact amounts are not disclosed, we estimate trading volume by using the midpoint of each disclosed range (e.g., a $1,001–$15,000 trade is estimated at $8,000). These are rough estimates and actual values may be significantly higher or lower.
Politician matching: We match disclosure filings to politician profiles using name, chamber, and bioguide ID. We supplement profile data with information from the unitedstates/congress-legislators open-source dataset.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about congressional trading disclosures and how we collect the data.
What is the STOCK Act?
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was signed into law on April 4, 2012. It explicitly prohibits members of Congress and their staff from using non-public information gained through their official duties for personal financial gain. The law also requires all members to publicly disclose any stock trades over $1,000 within 45 days of the transaction.
What are Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs)?
Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs) are the official disclosure forms Congress members must file when they, their spouse, or dependent children buy, sell, or exchange investments. Each PTR is submitted as a PDF to the House of Representatives' financial disclosure portal or the Senate's electronic filing system. We download these PDFs, extract the transaction data using automated parsing, and make it searchable here.
Who is required to file PTRs?
All 535 voting members of Congress — 435 Representatives and 100 Senators — are required to file PTRs for transactions by themselves, their spouse, and dependent children. Senior staff and executive branch officials also have similar disclosure requirements, though those are not tracked on this site.
How are amounts reported?
Congress members report transactions in predefined dollar ranges rather than exact amounts. The official ranges are: $1–$1,000 (exempt from filing); $1,001–$15,000; $15,001–$50,000; $50,001–$100,000; $100,001–$250,000; $250,001–$500,000; $500,001–$1,000,000; $1,000,001–$5,000,000; and $5,000,001+. For our estimated volume calculations, we use the midpoint of each range.
What types of assets are disclosed?
PTR filings cover a wide range of assets including: common stocks and equity shares, stock options (calls and puts), exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, corporate and government bonds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), private equity interests and LLCs, and direct real estate transactions. Assets held in certain retirement accounts (IRA, 401k) may be exempt from disclosure.
What is the 45-day rule?
Under the STOCK Act, Congress members have 45 days from the date of a trade to file their PTR disclosure. This means trade data can appear on this site anywhere from immediately to 45 days after the transaction occurred. Late filings are subject to a $200 fine, though enforcement has been historically inconsistent.
What does 'amendment' mean?
Congress members can file amended PTRs to correct or update previously filed transactions. An amendment (shown with an 'AMD' badge) supersedes the original filing for that transaction. We track amendments and mark them so you can see the most current version of each disclosure.
Can Congress members trade on insider information?
The STOCK Act explicitly prohibits using material non-public information obtained through congressional duties for personal trading. However, enforcement challenges are significant: Congress members have access to classified briefings, advance knowledge of legislation, and regulatory developments that could affect markets. Critics argue the 45-day disclosure window and dollar-range reporting still leaves room for strategic trading. Several proposals to ban congressional stock trading outright have been introduced but not passed.
How is the data collected?
We collect data by downloading PDF filings directly from the House of Representatives financial disclosure portal (disclosures-clerk.house.gov) and the Senate's PTR database. We extract trade data using automated PDF text parsing, then structure, deduplicate, and store the results in our database. We then display this data through this website.
Is this site affiliated with Congress or the government?
No. This is an independent, non-governmental website. We use only publicly available data from official government disclosure portals. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or funded by any government entity, political party, or Congress member.
Is this financial advice?
No. This website is for informational and transparency purposes only. Nothing on this site constitutes financial advice, investment recommendations, or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Past trading activity by Congress members should not be used as investment signals.
How far back does the data go?
Our database includes STOCK Act PTR filings back to 2012 when the law took effect, with coverage from 2012 to the present. We are continuously improving historical coverage. Some older PDFs use legacy formats that are harder to parse automatically.
Data sources
- House Financial Disclosures Portal
Official House PTR filings (PDFs)
- Senate PTR Search
Official Senate Periodic Transaction Reports
- unitedstates/congress-legislators
Politician biographical and committee data
Disclaimer
This website is an independent, non-governmental resource for public information purposes only. All data is sourced from official public government disclosure portals. Nothing on this site constitutes financial advice, investment recommendations, or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or funded by any government entity, political party, Congress member, or financial institution. While we strive for accuracy, we make no guarantees about completeness or correctness of the data presented.