Rep. Steil introduces bill to bar lawmakers and families from political prediction markets
Rep. Bryan Steil, who chairs the House Administration Committee, introduced legislation on June 18 that would prohibit members of Congress and their families from trading on political and policy-related prediction markets. The bill specifically targets event contracts tied to legislative outcomes and electoral results on platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket. Steil, a Wisconsin Republican, framed the measure as a response to reported episodes of alleged insider trading by lawmakers who possess advance knowledge of policy developments. The legislation would apply to both the lawmakers themselves and their immediate family members.
Kalshi and Polymarket would lose their highest-profile organic user segment if congressional accounts are forced to close. The repeated legislative pushes also pressure competing platforms to build real-time surveillance systems capable of flagging elected-official trades before regulators demand them.
Steil's bill is the latest in his push to bar congressional trading on Kalshi and Polymarket.