Performance Leaderboard

The Best Performing Congress Stock Traders.

Not who trades the most. Who actually performed. This leaderboard ranks members of Congress by how the trades Kapitol.ai curated as worth watching have done against the S&P 500, measured live and updated as prices move.

April 2025

when live curation began. This is forward-tracked, not backtested.

10

members with a qualifying curated record (5+ picks)

+182%

top member's annualized return above the S&P 500

149

curated buys scored against the S&P 500

Read this the right way

This is not a ranking of every trade a politician has ever made, and it is not a claim that Congress beats the market. It measures one specific thing: the trades Kapitol.ai's analysts flagged as worth watching, and how each one has performed against the S&P 500 over the same holding period. Every number below comes straight from our database and updates as prices move. The honest counterweight, the academic evidence on Congress as a whole, is one click away in do members of Congress actually beat the market.

The leaderboard: curated picks vs the S&P 500

Ranked by average annualized alpha, the margin each member's curated buys returned above the S&P 500 over the same hold, annualized so trades of different lengths are comparable. Win rate (the share of picks that beat the market) sits next to every name on purpose. Look for high alpha and a high win rate together.

1
Josh Gottheimer Democrat Leader

House · 9 curated picks · 67% beat the S&P 500 · best: AMD +70% vs SPY

+181.8%

ann. vs S&P

2
Byron Donalds Republican

House · 5 curated picks · 20% beat the S&P 500 · best: MRVL +190% vs SPY

+139.9%

ann. vs S&P

3
Dan Newhouse Republican

House · 7 curated picks · 71% beat the S&P 500 · best: AMD +227% vs SPY

+57.7%

ann. vs S&P

4
Robert Bresnahan Republican

House · 7 curated picks · 29% beat the S&P 500 · best: AMD +348% vs SPY

+46.2%

ann. vs S&P

5
David J. Taylor Republican

House · 5 curated picks · 60% beat the S&P 500 · best: AVGO +22% vs SPY

+37.1%

ann. vs S&P

6
Marjorie Taylor Greene Republican

House · 39 curated picks · 56% beat the S&P 500 · best: AMD +406% vs SPY

+25.2%

ann. vs S&P

7
Cleo Fields Democrat

House · 33 curated picks · 55% beat the S&P 500 · best: AMD +218% vs SPY

+18.8%

ann. vs S&P

8
Gilbert Cisneros Democrat

House · 14 curated picks · 43% beat the S&P 500 · best: MU +164% vs SPY

+14.2%

ann. vs S&P

9
Nancy Pelosi Democrat

House · 10 curated picks · 60% beat the S&P 500 · best: GOOGL +106% vs SPY

+12.5%

ann. vs S&P

10
Markwayne Mullin Republican

Senate · 20 curated picks · 40% beat the S&P 500 · best: CRS +68% vs SPY

+1.5%

ann. vs S&P

Live from the Kapitol.ai database, 5-pick minimum to qualify. Alpha is excess return versus the S&P 500 (SPY) over each trade's holding period, annualized. Open positions are marked to the latest price. Figures move as prices and new curated trades update.

Active is not the same as good

There is a list of the members who trade the most, and there is this list, the members whose curated trades actually performed. They are not the same people, and the gap is the whole point. A lawmaker can file hundreds of disclosures a year and land in the middle of the pack on results. Another can make a handful of well-placed buys and top the table.

Volume measures activity. This measures outcome. If you want to see who is simply busiest in the disclosure feed, that is a different page: the most active stock traders in Congress. The two ranked side by side tell you something neither tells alone, which names show up on both, and which show up on only one.

One more reason to separate them: a high average return can hide a low hit rate. Look down the win-rate column above and you will find members who rank near the top on annualized alpha while beating the market on a minority of their picks. That happens when one outsized winner carries the average. It is not a flaw in the data, it is exactly why the win rate sits next to every name. The strongest record pairs a high average with a high share of picks that actually beat the index.

The thread running through the best trades: chips

Scan the "best pick" beside each name and one sector keeps reappearing: semiconductors. AMD, Marvell, Broadcom, Micron, the names powering the AI build-out are the same names sitting at the top of the strongest curated records. That is not a coincidence. It is the single most government-shaped corner of the market, moved by CHIPS Act money, export controls, and defense AI budgets, and it is where committee access translates most directly into an information edge.

We have written about why at length. For the sector mechanics, see Congress and AI stocks. For the single most famous example, the call options sold as the CHIPS Act passed, see the Pelosi NVIDIA trade explained. The leaderboard is the quiet version of the same story: when lawmakers get semiconductor trades right, they tend to get them very right.

How we measure it, in plain terms

Transparency matters more than a flashy number, so here is exactly what the leaderboard does and does not do.

Curated picks only

We do not score every disclosure a member files. We score the buys our analysts curated as worth watching: a real committee or legislative angle, meaningful size, a clear thesis. A member needs at least 5 qualifying curated picks to appear.

Measured against the S&P 500

For each pick we compare the stock's return to the S&P 500 (via SPY) over the exact same holding period. Beating the market by 8% when the market rose 20% is not the same as beating it when the market fell. Alpha captures the difference.

Annualized for fairness

A 30% edge held for three years and a 30% edge held for three months are not equal. We annualize each trade's alpha so different hold lengths can sit on the same leaderboard. Very short holds get amplified, which is one reason we show win rate too.

Forward-tracked, not backtested

Curation began in April 2025. These are picks logged as they were disclosed and tracked forward, not trades cherry-picked years later with the benefit of hindsight. Open positions are marked to the current price.

The same engine powers our interactive tool, where you can switch time windows, see every pick, and run a copy-trade simulation against the S&P 500 for any member. That lives at the Kapitol.ai track record. This page is the snapshot. That page is the full machine.

Frequently asked questions

It measures how the trades Kapitol.ai curated as worth watching performed against the S&P 500 over the same holding period, annualized, with the share that beat the market shown as a win rate. It is not every trade a member made, and it is not a raw stock return, it is the margin above the index. Members are ranked by their average annualized alpha across their curated picks.
No. This is a curated subset, the picks we flagged, not a verdict on Congress as a whole. The academic evidence on all congressional trading is mixed, and the median member does not reliably outperform. We lay that out honestly in do members of Congress actually beat the market. This leaderboard answers a narrower question: among the trades worth watching, which members' picks worked.
Because the ranking is by average annualized return above the market, and one very large winner can lift that average even when most picks lagged. That is not a glitch, it is a real property of returns, and it is exactly why we show win rate beside every name. A high alpha with a low win rate means the record leans on one or two trades. The most durable records pair a strong average with a high share of picks that beat the index.
It is computed live from the Kapitol.ai database. As prices move, open positions are remarked, and as our analysts curate new disclosed buys, the rankings shift. Curation began in April 2025, so the record grows forward over time rather than being frozen.
This is not investment advice. Congressional trades are disclosed up to 45 days after they happen, so by the time you see one the price has often already moved, and a strong past record is no guarantee of future results. The leaderboard is a research and accountability tool. If you want to test the idea, our track record tool lets you simulate copying any member's curated buys against the S&P 500, and how to read a disclosure explains the timing problem in full.
Two reasons. First, most members of Congress trade rarely or not at all, so they never generate enough curated buys to rank. Second, we set a minimum of 5 qualifying curated picks so a single lucky trade cannot top the board. The result is a focused list of the members who both trade actively in watch-worthy names and have a track record long enough to mean something.

See the full record. Pick by pick.

The leaderboard is the snapshot. The track record tool lets you switch time windows, see every curated pick, and simulate copying any member against the S&P 500.

Explore the Track Record Get the free weekly picks
Also read: The Most Active Stock Traders in Congress

Not financial advice. Kapitol.ai is for educational and informational purposes only.