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House measure bans lawmakers from betting on prediction market
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) office for comment.
“Members of Congress shouldn’t be able to use insider knowledge to make a profit,” Hinson said in a statement. “We should take immediate action to ensure DC politicians can’t make money off of policies they are influencing.”
Hinson’s resolution also calls on both the White House and the judicial branch to establish similar rules for themselves.
The Senate passed a similar measure unanimously last week that banned senators and Senate employees from using prediction market platforms.
“United States Senators have no business engaging in speculative activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck, period,” Sen Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who spearheaded the legislation, said in a statement. “Serving in Congress should never be about finding new ways to profit; it should be about delivering results for the American people.”
Concerns over the use of prediction markets have steadily grown over the last several months after a series of high-profile bets on political events netted individuals thousands of dollars in winnings.
One Polymarket user, with the username “Magamyman,” made more than $553,000 for betting that Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be out of power hours before U.S. strikes killed him on Feb. 28. Another Polymarket user won over $400,000 on bets related to Venezuela in the lead up to the U.S.’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
The bets have sparked several pieces of legislation on Capitol Hill to rein in prediction markets.
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Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) unveiled legislation in March to ban prediction markets that allow wagers on government actions or potentially rigged outcomes altogether.