Congress Tries to Ban Betting on Itself, Oscars, and People Being Murdered
KEY POINTS
- â˘Rep. Ritchie Torres introduced a bill in January banning government officials from trading with insider information.
- â˘Sens. Jeff Merkley and Amy Klobuchar proposed banning the president, VP, and Congress from all prediction market trades.
- â˘Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Greg Casar want to ban trades on government actions, war, and even the Oscars.
In a sprawling Capitol Hill saga resembling a bizarre cocktail party, lawmakers like Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY) and Sens. Jeff Merkley (OR) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) are busy drafting bills to turn prediction markets into Fort Knox of ethicsâstarting with banning insiders from pegging outcomes they'd only know thanks to the Government Secret Sauce. Torres' January 'Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act' was inspired by a shadowy Polymarket trade just hours before Venezuelan leader NicolĂĄs Maduro's capture (tinfoil hats alert). Meanwhile, the 'End Prediction Market Corruption Act' led by Merkley and Klobuchar would throw the president and Congress off platforms outright. Sen. Chris Murphy (CT) and Rep. Greg Casar (TX) want to ban bets on government actions, wars, and even the Oscars and Super Bowl halftime showâbecause nothing says 'donât rig the system' like outlawing entertainment bets. Throw in Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT) aiming to age-gate markets and nix AI-targeted gambling, and Rep. Dina Titus (NV) battling sports betting turf wars, topped by bipartisan Republican/ Democrat reps Blake Moore (UT) and Salud Carbajal (CA) trying to keep terrorism and assassination off the trading tableâthe legislative circus is juggling so many bans it might cause a collapse under bureaucratic weight. All the while, Kalshi CEO calls some bans 'not a bad idea'âthe regulatory equivalent of agreeing the parking cops have a point. Itâs 2026 prediction market mania, starring politicians trying to coin a future where they donât bet against themselves or the halftime show.
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(1 of 3)Congress debating banning bets on government secrets, the Oscars, and warâbecause nothing says democracy like outlawing fun and insider trading at the same time.
Lawmakers want to ban themselves from betting on insider info and the Super Bowl like itâs some political fantasy football gone wild.
Congress debating bans so convoluted even they canât track if they're playing the stock market, the Oscars, or a rigged poker game.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 3/21/2026 | Author: Bryan Metzger
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