Senate bans its own members and staff from betting in prediction markets
[May 01, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has approved a bipartisan resolution to
prevent its own members from using prediction markets, banning senators
who are often privy to sensitive information from making bets on
upcoming events.
The measure that passed unanimously by voice vote Thursday was written
as a change to the Senate’s rules, so it will go into effect
immediately. It comes a week after a U.S. special forces soldier was
charged with using classified information to bet on the January capture
of Venezuela's then-president, Nicolas Maduro, and as lawmakers
increasingly voice concerns about who might be making public wagers on
the war with Iran.
“United States senators have no business engaging in speculative
activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded
paycheck, period,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who sponsored the
resolution. An amendment by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., broadened the
measure to include staff.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the move was a
“no-brainer.” He encouraged the House and Trump administration to do the
same.
“We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino where members
representing the public can gamble on wars or economic crises or
elections,” Schumer said. “That would destroy the very principle of
representative government.”
Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have introduced a
bill to ban all federally elected officials and government employees
from using insider information to make prediction market bets. Young
said the resolution was “a good first step” and he encouraged the Senate
to take up their bill.
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Prediction markets, including the betting platform Polymarket and its
chief rival Kalshi, have come under scrutiny as the business has
expanded. Polymarket has received particular criticism as a venue for
offshore trades that are beyond the reach of U.S. regulators.
Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that a group of new
accounts on Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether
the United States and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting
in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for the new customers. On
the same day the AP published the report, the White House warned staff
against using private information to trade on prediction markets.
The administration has been a key ally of the growing prediction market
industry in a legal fight with states seeking to ban the platforms.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, is an adviser for both
Polymarket and Kalshi. Trump’s social media platform Truth Social is
also launching its own cryptocurrency-based prediction market called
Truth Predict.
“The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino, and
you look at what’s going on all over the world and Europe and every
place, they’re doing these betting things,” Trump said this month.
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