The United States Senate has adopted a new proposal that blocks its members and their staffers from trading on prediction markets like Polymarket or Kalshi. The move is already being called out by some as a half measure.
While members of the Senate and their staffers can’t trade on prediction markets, they can still trade stocks—something that conservatives and Republican grassroots activists have been pushing to ban for years.
Former Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) said: “There is logic in looking at other things than just the prediction markets, which is really relatively small. That’s why the politicians are able to do it.” He believes this may have been an example of doing the bare minimum in order to pander to voters.
Stockman did say that this might create the momentum needed to get a ban on congressional stock trading over the finish line. “This opens the door to ban stock market trading, insider trading. It’s illegal for everyone else to do it except congressmen and senators,” he said.
He specifically called out former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose high net worth and shockingly good luck in the stock market have drawn scrutiny from Republicans for years.