(Bloomberg) — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on the House of Representatives and the White House to follow the Senate’s lead by imposing a ban on trading in fast-growing prediction markets.
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“Members and staff representing the public should never be able to gamble on wars, on economic crises or on elections,” Schumer said in a statement on Sunday. “The very possibility that a member’s vote could be influenced by a bet is reason enough to slam this door shut.”
The Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to ban its members and staff from trading on prediction markets, highlighting concerns about insider trading on the platforms after a US soldier was accused of using classified information to profit from trades. The Senate rule change took effect immediately.
Schumer called on President Donald Trump to sign a comprehensive federal ban covering all government officials and employees across the executive branch.
“This is a no-brainer,” he said. “We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino, and we shouldn’t let the White House, or the West Wing, be one either.”
On April 24, the Justice Department indicted a special forces soldier on charges that he used classified information to make more than $400,000 from trades on his Polymarket (POLA.PVT) account on the timing of a US operation to capture Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The soldier, stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, pleaded not guilty to the charge.




