Bernie Moreno

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno is introducing a resolution that would prohibit sitting U.S. senators from participating in prediction markets — online platforms where users wager real money on whether specific real-world events will or will not occur.

Among the most widely used platforms are Polymarket, Kalshi, and PredictIt, which host contracts on everything from election outcomes to Federal Reserve decisions to military actions.

“Any Senator who comes to Washington, D.C., to cash in, play the markets, or treat public office like a side hustle is a betrayal to the people they swore to serve,” Moreno, a Westlake Republican, said in a statement. “If you’re here to enrich yourself instead of fight for the American people, this (is) a clear abuse of power and you have no business holding public office.”

The rapid growth of prediction markets has triggered concerns about insider trading and manipulation, including situations where participants exploit privileged knowledge, or even their own ability to influence an outcome, to cash in.

Congressional researchers noted in a legal analysis released this month that Polymarket’s offshore platform saw a sharp spike in large purchases of contracts predicting U.S. military strikes on Iran shortly before those strikes occurred in February 2026, raising questions about whether someone with advance knowledge had placed the bets.

CNN reported that one Polymarket trader made nearly $1 million since 2024 by placing accurately timed bets on when the U.S. and Israel would launch military strikes against Iran. Kalshi last week blocked three congressional candidates for making bets on their own races. And the U.S. Department of Justice last week charged an active duty U.S. soldier, Gannon Van Dyke, for misusing classified information about U.S. military action to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to make money on Polymarket.

When Van Dyke was charged, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche released a statement that said: “Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply.”

The resolution Moreno unveiled on April 24, would amend Rule XXXVII of the Senate’s Standing Rules to add the following prohibition: “No Member of the Senate may enter into, or offer to enter into, an agreement, contract, or transaction that provides for any purchase, sale, payment, or delivery that is dependent on the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or the extent of the occurrence of a specific event.”