Lafayette Reporter

Sen. John Kennedy and Sen. Tom Cotton have filed an amicus brief challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission's Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), a program that will collect personal data of American investors. Kennedy expressed his concerns, stating, "More than 158 million Americans invest their hard-earned savings in the stock market, and they trust that their personal information is secure." He criticized the Biden administration for moving forward with the CAT without Congressional authorization, putting investors' data at risk and increasing their costs.

Cotton also condemned the program, stating, "The SEC never brought this proposal before Congress to request funds because the Biden administration knows the program is a gross overreach that would suck up the personal data of millions of law-abiding Americans." He emphasized the SEC's history of being unable to safely store sensitive data and called for the program to be halted before it begins.

The amicus brief was filed in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the case American Securities Association v. SEC. The brief was signed by 20 senators, including Sens. John Boozman, Mike Braun, Kevin Cramer, Steve Daines, Bill Hagerty, Jerry Moran, Pete Ricketts, and Tim Scott, along with 12 members of the House of Representatives.

In background information provided, it was highlighted that Sen. Kennedy has previously raised concerns about the SEC's storage of investors' personally identifiable information and introduced the Protecting Investors' Personally Identifiable Information Act in July 2023 to address these issues. The amicus brief filed by Kennedy, Cotton, and their colleagues can be accessed for further information.