WASHINGTON — Democrats who have supported efforts to ban stock trading by members of Congress are frustrated by a new Republican-led bill that they say comes up short. But at least one has already signed on to support it.

“If the choice in front of us is either do nothing or do something to rein in the corruption around here, then I’m willing to work with anybody to make progress,” Rep. Josh Riley said.

Riley, who represents a swing district in New York, said while he’s also backing legislation “that goes a lot farther,” he won’t let the “perfect be the enemy of the good.”

“I think we should force everybody to divest their stocks. I also think that this bill is a hell of a lot better than doing nothing,” he said.

Meanwhile, at least one Republican has some doubts. If the bill gets to the House floor in its current form, Rep. Tim Burchett said he’s still unsure how he would vote.

“The point that you can still own stocks, there’s some limitations there. I liked our just complete ban where you had to sell them all and get out of them,” the Tennessee Republican said Tuesday.

So far, Riley is the lone Democratic co-sponsor lending his name to the bill, joining more than 70 Republicans. With some Democrats signaling they will hold out for deeper changes, House GOP leaders will need strong support from their conference to meet their stated goal of passing it on the floor.

But first the bill will get its day in the House Administration Committee, where Democrats will offer amendments at a Wednesday morning markup.

“This is not a stock-trading ban. We’re going to continue to fight for that,” said House Administration ranking member Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y.

Morelle said he was not involved in drafting the new bill, which is led by Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis. It would block members of Congress from buying new individual stocks and add advance disclosure requirements for sales. But it would allow them to keep their existing investments.

“I think that if there was a little bit of progress, I would support it, but I don’t see the progress. I think that we should go back to the bipartisan agreement that we had,” said Rep. Norma J. Torres, a California Democrat who sits on the panel. “I don’t know why Chairman Steil is jumping ahead of what the bipartisan group was working on.”

Last fall, a bipartisan working group had hammered out consensus legislation— led by Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Seth Magaziner, D-R.I. — that would require lawmakers to fully divest their individual stocks. Such a change would eliminate any temptations of insider trading and restore the public’s trust in Congress, they said.

Rank-and-file members in both parties pressured leaders to act, with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., filling a discharge petition with the aim of forcing a floor vote. But that momentum started to fade, as Republican members of the group pivoted to negotiations with Speaker Mike Johnson on scaled-back legislation.

While Luna characterized the new bill as a “win,” Morelle called it a “pretty weak attempt to try to, I think, misdirect and get people, particularly Rep. Luna and some of the Republicans, off the case.”

“It was written by and for the absolute wealthiest members of Congress to look like they are passing a ban,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a member of the bipartisan working group.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have thrown their weight behind a different proposal that would apply to not only members of Congress but also the president and vice president — a nonstarter for many Republicans during the Trump administration. Morelle said a discharge petition on that Democratic proposal will become live next week, and he is encouraging members to sign it.

Voting against the GOP bill could raise difficult questions for Democrats during an election year, especially as Republicans work to cast it as a win for transparency and accountability.

“I don’t know if additional disclosure is enough, but we will look at the package, we will judge it on its merits,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said during a Tuesday news conference. “We will look at the questions and the amendments that are offered within the committee, and as a caucus, we will have discussions to where we go.

“Count me in that category that wishes it would have been a more robust package,” he added.

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