Rep. Jason Crow wants to make sure the people writing the laws aren’t placing bets on how those laws play out. The Colorado Democrat is leading a bipartisan push to ban members of Congress from participating in prediction markets, a move that could reshape how platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket interact with Washington.

Crow spearheaded a letter signed by 19 House members urging Speaker Mike Johnson to implement new rules prohibiting members of Congress, their families, and staff from both trading individual stocks and participating in prediction markets. The effort is co-led by Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Michael Cloud (R-TX).

The case for a ban

“People betting on major military operations, the use of inside information. It’s grotesque. It’s wrong and it should be prohibited.”

Members of Congress sit in classified briefings about military operations, economic policy decisions, and regulatory actions before anyone else knows about them. Then they walk out of those briefings and, under current House rules, nothing stops them from opening Polymarket on their phone and placing a bet.

The congressman has already taken unilateral action within his own office, prohibiting his staff from engaging in prediction markets including Kalshi and Polymarket.

“Members of Congress should not be personally profiting off of stock trading or placing bets in prediction markets.”

Momentum is building

The Senate already adopted similar restrictions earlier in May 2026, banning lawmakers from betting on prediction markets. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has since advocated for a prompt vote on the proposed regulations.

The broader context here involves years of frustration over congressional stock trading. The STOCK Act of 2012 was supposed to address insider trading by lawmakers, but enforcement has been, charitably, inconsistent. Several bills are already targeting the prevention of insider trading and predicting market activity by public officials.