House lawmakers have not yet adopted a chamber-wide ban on prediction market trading, even as members from both parties press for new rules to curb potential insider trading. Unlike the Senate, which recently prohibited staff and senators from buying event contracts, the House still allows members and staff to participate in prediction markets that accept billions of dollars in wagers on sports, culture, policy and elections.
The push for change has intensified after several high-profile incidents raised alarm about the misuse of nonpublic information. Federal prosecutors in April charged a U.S. service member with using classified intelligence to wager more than $400,000 on the potential removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In a separate case reported in May, a campaign staffer allegedly used unreleased polling data to place bets on their own candidate, reportedly earning thousands.
Critics say these examples show how government officials or political operatives might exploit privileged information for financial gain. “The status quo is indefensible,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) told reporters, calling for a rule change to bar members of campaigns and government from betting on outcomes connected to their work. Torres introduced legislation aimed at stopping campaign staffers from betting on their own races and joined a bipartisan letter urging House leadership to amend the chamber’s rules to stop abuses.
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) has also proposed a change to bar House members and staff from participating in prediction markets. “Congress isn’t a casino,” Hinson said, arguing members should not profit from insider knowledge of policy or personnel decisions.
Current House ethics rules do not specifically address event contracts, the bets traded on prediction exchanges, and there is no explicit requirement to report profits from them on congressional financial disclosure forms. By contrast, members must disclose gains from assets such as stocks, bonds and cryptocurrencies. Former House Ethics Committee counsel Blake Chisam has called that omission a “blind spot.”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates prediction markets and already bans insider trading under the Commodity Exchange Act, but some lawmakers and ex-regulators argue that new, targeted laws are needed to address the rapid growth of platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket and the political and national-security risks they pose.
The White House issued a memo in April warning federal employees against using Kalshi and Polymarket. Meanwhile, at least 10 bills addressing insider trading in prediction markets have been introduced in Congress, and the House Oversight Committee has begun asking exchanges for information. Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told media he has requested records and warned of subpoenas if exchanges do not cooperate.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said a House-wide ban is “an idea we’re talking about” and that he would support it, but he emphasized the need to build consensus. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s office said he supports a ban and urged swift action.
For now, the House remains without a formal prohibition, leaving a regulatory and ethical patchwork as lawmakers debate how to prevent insider trading while determining the scope of new rules for prediction markets.