Senate Unanimously Bans Prediction Market Trading for Staff

On Thursday the Senate changed its chamber rules to prohibit senators and their staff from trading on prediction markets. The resolution will be enforced internally by members of the chamber.

The rule bars trading on prediction platforms by senators and their employees. The change does not create a federal crime, does not require approval by the House of Representatives and does not need the president’s signature to take effect.

Lawmakers cited concerns that officials or aides could use nonpublic information to profit. Federal prosecutors recently charged U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke in a case that alleges he used knowledge from an operation to remove Venezuela’s president to make more than $404,000 on prediction markets, according to a Department of Justice indictment and a separate civil complaint from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Several bills in Congress address trading on prediction markets. Representative Ritchie Torres introduced the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026 in January to bar federal officials from participating. In March, Senators Jeff Merkley and Amy Klobuchar filed legislation to prohibit senior executive branch officials from trading on such platforms. Representatives Blake Moore and Salud Carbajal filed a bipartisan bill aimed at insider trading tied to sensitive military information and threats to democratic processes. Other proposed measures would forbid markets from offering bets tied to sports wagering, terrorism, assassination, war or an individual’s death.

The Senate’s resolution follows policy changes at other institutions. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a directive barring state employees from using confidential information to place bets on prediction markets.

Senator Bernie Moreno, the Republican sponsor of the chamber rule change, wrote that the ban is an ethical safeguard and added, ‘Serving in Congress is an honor, not a side hustle. Americans deserve to know that their leaders are here for the right reason!’

Olivia Chalos, deputy chief legal officer at Polymarket, wrote that ‘Polymarket operates in full compliance with applicable law,’ and that the platform’s insider trading rules follow lines drawn by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the courts. Senator Richard Blumenthal criticized Polymarket for listing a market about the reported rescue of a U.S. soldier in Iran and said the platform allowed users to profit from national security secrets.

Enforcement of the Senate rule will rely on member oversight and referrals rather than criminal prosecution. The change affects only the Senate and its employees and does not alter how federal law treats trading on prediction markets.