Senate leadership are hoping to have lawmakers begin vote on amendments Thursday to legislation seeking to curtail insider trading of securities by lawmakers, though many of the measures under consideration are controversial and could bog down final passage of the bill.

Some members of Congress want to include executive branch employees in a bill that would ban lawmakers from using nonpublic information to made stock trades. The bill also would require public reporting ...

Some members of Congress want to include executive branch employees in a bill that would ban lawmakers from using nonpublic information to made stock trades. The bill also would require public reporting of new securities transactions within 30 days, all part of an effort by Congress to boost its dismal approval ratings that are now in the teens.

WASHINGTON - President Obama is pressing his case for changes in how the Senate does business, hoping to ease the partisan gridlock, and he wants to bar lawmakers from profiting from their service.

A recent poll indicates that a majority of Americans favor dumping every member of Congress. Now, the Senate is trying to restore a measure of trust by passing legislation to ban insider trading by lawmakers.