Congress is scrambling to quell the perception that insider trading is rampant on Capitol Hill before the accusations amount to another political black eye for an institution where public support already sags in single digits.

The issue is not new. But it was given new life by a 60 Minutes broadcast earlier this month that alleged insider trading—the use of confidential, nonpublic information to make lucrative stock investments—by top members of Congress.

In the weeks since, hearings have been called, a senator has introduced a bill to ban the practice, and support for a similar House measure has swelled. On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee felt obliged to reiterate that, even if not clearly illegal, members and staff are not allowed to profit from confidential information because it violates ethical guidelines.

“Members and employees who engage in trading with the benefit of material nonpublic information gained in congressional service may be investigated for, and may be found in violation” of ethics rules, said the six-page memo, which was distributed to every member’s office.

The stern memo made clear that such trading is not allowed “whether or not the traditional statutes and regulations governing insider trading apply” to members of Congress and staff. The Ethics Committee declined to comment on what had spurred the memo.

Congressional veterans know well the potency of the perception of corruption. In the 1994 elections, the House bank scandal helped put the chamber in GOP hands for the first time in 40 years. More than a decade later, top Republicans’ entanglement with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff helped hand the House back to the Democrats after the 2006 midterms.

The public is already sour on this divided Congress as lawmakers have spent months flailing at the nation’s fiscal problems—and each other—with little to show for it. The resulting record-low approval ratings have left top Democratic and Republican strategists alike uneasy about what is expected to be a volatile election season.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican presidential hopeful, quickly attacked congressional insider trading on the campaign trail, demanding a new law to jail any such traders—“no ifs, ands, or buts.”

Still, the recent accusations of insider trading hold a less clear partisan advantage than some past scandals, as both parties have been implicated in the practice. The60 Minutes segment, for instance, highlighted trades by House Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

All three have vehemently denied the charges.

Some see a political opportunity in the burgeoning scandal and are seizing the reform mantle.

Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who faces a tough reelection bid against former Obama administration official Elizabeth Warren in deep-blue Massachusetts, introduced a measure to curb the practice days after the broadcast.

Brown is positioning himself to compete with Warren, who was an advocate of reining in Wall Street’s excesses for decades and was the leading force behind the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was erected in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

“The American people elect members of Congress to serve in Washington for the good of the nation, not personal enrichment,” Brown wrote after introducing the bill.

A hearing on the measure is scheduled for Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where both the chairman and ranking Republican, Sens. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have quickly embraced the cause.

In the House, legislation to crack down on the practice, known as the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, has garnered enormous momentum since the 60 Minutes segment aired on Nov. 13.

Before the broadcast, the bill, coauthored by Reps. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., andTim Walz, D-Minn., had only nine cosponsors.

As of late Tuesday, it had 118, according to Slaughter’s office.

Bachus, whose trading after private briefings from Treasury and Federal Reserve officials during the financial crisis were at the center of the 60 Minutes spot, has scheduled a hearing on that measure for next week.

In another sign of how seriously members are taking the issue—or its potential fallout—the Congressional Research Service drafted a legal memorandum on “Insider Trading and Members of Congress,” obtained by National Journal Daily, five days after the program aired.

The memo said it was produced after the nonpartisan agency received member “requests” for information on the matter.

Spokeswoman Janine D’Addario said it is CRS policy not to disclose who had requested the legal opinion.