Washington, May 8 (IANS) Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have move a legislation to ban members of Congress and their staff from trading on prediction markets. It comes days after the Senate unanimously adopted similar restrictions amid growing scrutiny over potential insider trading and ethics concerns.
Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Iowa on Thursday introduced a resolution to amend House rules and prohibit lawmakers, congressional staff and House officers from entering agreements tied to the outcome of specific events, effectively banning participation in prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
The move follows the Senate’s adoption last month of S Res 708, a resolution led by Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, which revised Senate rules to bar senators and staff from trading contracts linked to specific events.
“I think this is something we should be doing as fast as possible,” Hinson said.
“What I don’t want to see is that because Congress is lacking action here, that this is a loophole that people were able to take advantage of,” she said.
In a statement accompanying the resolution, Hinson said: “Members of Congress shouldn’t be able to use insider knowledge to make a profit. We should take immediate action to ensure DC politicians can’t make money off of policies they are influencing. I am calling on our House Republican leadership to bring this to the floor immediately — it should receive unanimous support.”
Under the proposed House rules change, members, delegates, resident commissioners, officers and employees of the House would be barred from entering “an agreement, contract, swap, or transaction” tied to “the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or the extent of the occurrence of a specific event or contingency.”
Hinson said she coordinated the effort with Moreno after working with him on other issues.
The Iowa Republican is not alone in pushing the proposal. Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada introduced a separate resolution in April that would also prohibit members and staff from trading on prediction markets, though her proposal includes an exception for sports wagers.
“No Member of Congress should be able to profit off their insider knowledge by placing informed bets on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket,” Titus said in a statement.
The push comes as prediction markets gain visibility in Washington and attract growing attention from lawmakers concerned that officials with advance knowledge of government actions could exploit the platforms for financial gain.
According to CQ, a special forces soldier pleaded not guilty last month to allegedly using confidential information to place bets on Polymarket that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would leave office. The report said the trades allegedly generated more than $400,000.
“This is a very clear line where people understand, ‘Hey, you know things ahead of when the normal public does,’” Hinson said. “It certainly should apply to everyone, but . . . it absolutely should apply to members of Congress.”
Moreno framed the Senate action as part of a broader effort to restore trust in Congress.
“My issue is, let’s clean up Congress. If there are going to be guardrails in prediction markets, that’s a longer conversation that should have hearings,” Moreno said. “But we don’t want to wait until that …we just wanted to clean up Congress.”
–IANS
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