House Republican Introduces Bill to Restrict Congress Members From Profiting Off of Prediction Markets

By Kelly Cloonan

A House Republican introduced a provision that would ban members of Congress from participating in certain prediction markets, marking the latest move to address concerns about lawmakers potentially profiting off of insider information.

The legislation, introduced Thursday by Rep. Bryan Steil (R., Wis.), would restrict house members as well as their spouses and dependent children from placing bets on events such as a specific government policy or action as well as political outcomes.

Lawmakers who violate the rule would be required to pay a $2,000 fee, or 10% of the value of the transaction, whichever is greater, as well as any gains from their wager.

The bill comes amid a push for further parameters to govern potential insider trading on rapidly growing prediction markets.

Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket let users bet on future events in areas like politics, war and popular culture. As the platforms have gained popularity, they have been met with pressure to address suspicious activity, with lawmakers, regulators and prosecutors raising concerns over trading from users with nonpublic information.

Earlier this year, a pair of Democratic lawmakers proposed a law to ban outright contracts related to war or death on U.S.-regulated platforms, and, earlier this month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed new rules that would allow the regulator to block prediction wagers it finds aren't in the public interest, or that seem highly susceptible to manipulation.

Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2026 12:45 ET (16:45 GMT)