Senators propose ban on US gov’t officials doing prediction market trading

The bill comes as an anonymous user on Polymarket made more than $500,000 by taking a position that the United States would strike Iran hours before it happened.Published On 5 Mar 2026Two United States Democratic Senators are set to introduce legislation barring members of Congress, the president, and vice president from trading event contracts on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, are set to introduce on Thursday a bill banning lawmakers from trading, according to CNBC, which first reported the story.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4South Korea’s stock market suffers biggest drop in history amid US-Iran warlist 2 of 4IRGC says Iran in ‘complete control’ of Strait of Hormuz amid Trump threatslist 3 of 4Gamblers make big profits on Iran strikes, raising insider trading concernslist 4 of 4Venezuela’s president vows mining reform amid visit from US cabinet memberend of listThe legislation, if passed, would also curtail other members of the executive branch from profiting on the platforms, or face fines of at least $10,000 for each violation.The bill also states that violators will have to pay back profits made in trades.The legislation comes as prediction markets are in the spotlight after a few anonymous bettors profited on positions that the US would strike Iran. The bets were made on Polymarket, a platform on which traders can buy and sell anonymously, within 24 hours of the strike.Only weeks earlier, another user made more than $400,000 on Polymarket betting on the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office, only hours before the US’s abduction of Maduro.“At the same time that prediction markets have seen huge growth, we have seen increasing reports of misconduct. This legislation strengthens the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s ability to go after bad actors and provides rules of the road to prevent those with confidential government or policy information from exploiting their access for financial gain,” Klobuchar said in a statement shared with Al Jazeera.