Crow Seeks to Ban Members of Congress from Stock Trading, Insider Trading on Prediction Markets
WASHINGTON — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO) is calling on Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately ban members of the U.S. House of Representatives, their families, and congressional staff from trading in individual stocks and participating in prediction markets.
In a new bipartisan letter, Crow says that the U.S. House of Representatives should amend its rules, which currently do not address prediction markets or stock trading.
Last month, the U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan resolution to prevent Senators, who often are privy to sensitive information, from making bets on prediction markets.
“Members of Congress should not be personally profiting off of stock trading or placing bets in prediction markets,” said Congressman Crow. “We have to restore the American people’s trust in their government. That starts by rooting out corruption. Elected officials must be held to a higher standard.”
Recent news reports have raised allegations of government officials, staff, and candidates for office abusing their positions to place bets on prediction markets using confidential information. Commonsense rules are necessary to prevent Members of Congress from using access to information as part of their official duties for their own financial gain.
Throughout his time in Congress, Crow has fought to end corruption. He has stood up to special interests and has not taken a dime of corporate PAC money. Additionally, his End Dark Money Act would crack down on dark money’s influence on U.S. elections and his bipartisan Shell Company Abuse Act would limit foreign interference in U.S. elections. Crow is also an original cosponsor of the TRUST in Congress Act to ban members of Congress and their families from owning or trading stocks.
A PDF of the letter can be found here, with full text appearing below:
Dear Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries:
We are writing to urge immediate changes to the rules package for the 119th Congress to include a clear, enforceable ban on Members, their families, and staff trading in individual stocks and in prediction markets. If such changes are not adopted in the current Congress, we urge that these provisions be included in the rules package for the 120th Congress.
The provisions we support reflect bipartisan work to stop insider trading and restore trust in Congress. Regardless of the process for passing legislation to address these concerns, these components can and should be adopted now through the House rules.
First, the rules should prohibit Members from trading stocks while in office. Members of Congress are privy to information the average hard-working American is not, so we should end both the appearance and reality of conflicts of interest and special privileges for elected officials.
The rules should also directly address prediction markets. The United States Senate recently acted on a bipartisan basis to change its standing rules to prohibit Senators and staff from using prediction markets. The House of Representatives should not lag behind the Senate in closing obvious avenues for conflicts of interest and the appearance of corruption. The House should also act to end abuse in the use of prediction markets in our chamber immediately.
These reforms are not partisan; they are about restoring trust in Congress as an institution. Members from across the political spectrum have heard the same message from our constituents: they want clear rules that prevent lawmakers from personally profiting from nonpublic information or from the outcomes of the very processes we oversee. The House can act now to address concerns about insider trading and special privileges by taking action against stock trading and prediction markets in the House Rules.
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