Methodology

Congress Watch reports on the stock trades of United States members of Congress. This page explains exactly where our data comes from, how we analyze it, and the limits of what it can tell you.

Where the data comes from

Every trade we cover originates from public disclosures filed under the STOCK Act of 2012, which requires members of Congress to report their securities transactions. We access this data through a structured data provider that aggregates the official filings, and we cross-reference congressional committee assignments, bill activity, and the committee markup calendar.

The 45-day disclosure lag

By law, members may report a trade up to roughly 45 days after it happens. That means our coverage reflects the latest disclosed activity — it is not real-time, and it never represents non-public information. We report on patterns in public records after the fact. Every article notes this.

What a "herd signal" is

When several members buy or sell the same stock within a short window, we describe it as a herd signal. It is a descriptive, quantitative observation drawn from the filings — the count of members, the direction, and the tightness of the window. It is not a claim of coordination or wrongdoing.

How articles are produced

Articles are drafted by an automated research systemthat summarizes the day’s most notable disclosures, and are then reviewed, fact-checked against the source filings, and approved by a human editor before publication. We constrain the system to the underlying data: it does not invent tickers, names, figures, dates, or quotes. See our Editorial Policy for details and our AI disclosure.

What this is not

Congress Watch is research and journalism about public disclosures. It is not financial advice, not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and not an allegation that any trade was illegal — STOCK Act trading is legal and disclosed. Found an error? See Corrections.