About PoliTracker

Our Mission

PoliTracker exists to bring transparency to congressional stock trading. Members of Congress have access to non-public information that can influence markets — from upcoming legislation to classified briefings. The STOCK Act of 2012 was supposed to prevent insider trading by lawmakers, but enforcement has been virtually nonexistent.

We believe sunlight is the best disinfectant. By automatically collecting, analyzing, and flagging suspicious trading patterns, PoliTracker makes it easy for journalists, researchers, and citizens to identify potential conflicts of interest.

How It Works

1. Data Collection — We aggregate congressional stock trade disclosures, bill activity, committee assignments, vote records, and market data from official public sources.
2. Anomaly Detection — Our detection engine runs 12 algorithms that cross-reference trades against legislative activity, committee jurisdiction, timing patterns, and market benchmarks.
3. Public Reporting — Flagged anomalies are published with full evidence: the trade, the legislation, the timeline, and the confidence score. No editorializing — just data.

Data Sources

• Congress.gov — Members, bills, votes, committees, hearings
• Senate/House Financial Disclosures — Stock trade filings (via FinnHub, FMP, Quiver)
• Market Data — Stock prices and benchmarks
• OpenSecrets — Campaign finance data

Open Source

PoliTracker is open source. You can review our detection algorithms, suggest improvements, or run your own instance. For details on how each detector works, see our Methodology page.

Support the Project

PoliTracker is funded entirely by donations. Server costs, API subscriptions, and development time are all covered by supporters like you. If you believe in government transparency, consider donating.