Rep. Brian Still, R-Wis., speaks to reporters outside the House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | getty images
The leader of the congressional committee that oversees House proceedings says he is working on legislation to not only ban sitting lawmakers from placing prediction market bets on elections and politics, but he also wants to extend it to former federal lawmakers and candidates for those offices.
Rep. Brian Still, R-Wisc., who chairs the House Administration Committee, told reporters this week that he sees no issue with lawmakers betting on non-political events such as sports outcomes. But betting on elections and policies – topics where they may have access to insider information – will be banned on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.
“One way to make sure that, now that these new and kind of new markets are available to consumers on a large scale, is that we put it clearly in the rules,” he told reporters in an interview.
Executives from Kalshi and Polymarket, as well as some traders on the site, met with lawmakers this week as part of a larger effort to make their case about how Washington interacts with prediction markets. In addition to legislation to address insider trading risks, lawmakers are considering how to deal with prediction markets based outside the U.S.
While the Senate has already changed its rules to ban senators and their staff from placing bets on prediction markets, the House is considering writing a more tailored ban into law.
While insider trading laws already exist, Still said it has become important for lawmakers to avoid the appearance of using their elected office for personal gain.
Still, who is working with House GOP leadership on his bill, plans to add language to the legislation prohibiting lawmakers from buying stocks. That bill passed out of committee earlier this year, but has yet to be voted on in the House, despite leadership promises.
Still said he would also like to see prediction markets that are “regulated in the United States, under United States values, and we protect consumers from outside transactions.”
Such a change could impact the largest prediction market, Polymarket, which currently bans US users from its main exchange, although the company is working to gain a legal foothold in the US.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates prediction markets and has argued in courts and in public statements that it should have exclusive regulatory authority over the industry, rather than other federal agencies or states.
Polymarket and Kalshi supported the Senate move to bar lawmakers from betting. Kalshi has also flagged and fined political candidates who have used insider knowledge of their caste to place bets.
While Still plans to introduce its own member-betting legislation soon, comprehensive bills regulating the market may take longer to achieve. They will be under the purview of either the House Agriculture Committee or the House Financial Services Committee.
While time is fast running out to enact legislation this year, there is interest among Democrats in imposing their own restrictions. Asked about the Senate rule change during the CNBC CEO Council summit, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Said he thought the House would “do the same thing.”
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes client acquisition and minority investment.
