B.3. Blind Trust Requirement

All other financial holdings, which can include, but are not limited to, publicly traded or privately held securities, business interests, and any real estate other than the Member’s primary residence in their home state or district, must be placed in a qualified blind trust administered by an independent fiduciary.

This provision is vital. It allows ownership of securities and real estate, but it cuts off the Member’s direct access to it. They can’t issue buy or sell orders, and they can’t liquidate it. The blind trust is required to be in the hands of a fiduciary, which means the person or entity managing the assets must do so with the member’s interests in mind. Still, the member can’t realize the fruits of that management until the exclusionary period ends, two years after they leave Congress for the last time.

The Member is prohibited from having direct control or knowledge of transactions within the trust during the covered period. Similarly, the fiduciary is prohibited from having knowledge of the Member’s Congressional duties and briefings beyond what is in the public domain.

This section of the clause prevents communication of transactions in process to the member. The reason for this is that if a member is aware of a potential transaction, they may have the opportunity to influence business before Congress in a way that benefits them personally. It also prevents communication the other direction, so the fiduciary can’t take confidential knowledge of business before Congress and trade based on that knowledge.