The Senate is likely next week to pass a bill banning insider trading by members of Congress after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., teed up action on the measure on Thursday.
Reid filed cloture on the so-called STOCK Act, legislation drafted after a CBS News 60 Minutes segment about the absence of insider-trading rules governing members of Congress. Democratic aides said the bill is likely to pass with little opposition next week. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee previously passed the bill.
The measure is likely to become the first proposal touted by President Obama in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday to pass either chamber. In moving it quickly, Democrats hope to place pressure on House Republican leaders, who last month forced House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., to pull a House version of the bill to allow more member input.
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