WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, announced that the Senate adopted his amendment to the Senate resolution introduced by Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) barring Senators from using prediction markets to place bets on the outcomes of real-world events, including federal government actions and elections. Padilla's amendment ensures the resolution's restrictions also apply to officers and employees of the Senate and clarified the definition of event contracts to exclude insurance agreements and other traditional contracts. The amendment also included language encouraging the House of Representatives, executive branch, and judicial branch to establish similar restrictions.

"Politicians betting on their own races, massive wagers placed moments before the President announced of a ceasefire in Iran, and suspected insider trading before the capture of Nicolás Maduro - these are just a few examples of the blatant, brazen corruption that we've seen playing out on prediction markets," said Senator Padilla. "This Senate rule is a commonsense step to ensure that Senators and their staff cannot use their positions of public trust to line their own pockets. But let's be clear: this resolution alone will not address the growing public outrage over the unprecedented scale of corruption under the Trump Administration. I will continue to push for legislation to rein in Trump Administration officials who may be profiting off insider knowledge, including military operations."

The resolution, as amended, by Padilla:

• Amends Senate Rule XXXVII (Conflict of Interest) to prohibit Senators, officers, and employees of the Senate from entering into event contracts, the products traded on online prediction markets to bet on the outcomes of real-world events, including federal government actions and elections.
• Ensures the application of the restriction to officers and employees of the Senate, in addition to Senators, and provides technical edits to the definition of event contracts to exclude insurance agreements and other traditional contracts from the prohibition. The resolution does not prohibit traditional gaming or sports betting.
• The resolution, as amended, includes a Sense of the Senate that the House of Representatives, executive branch, and judicial branch should establish similar restrictions.

While amendments to the Senate Rules are the jurisdiction of the Rules Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics is charged with interpreting and enforcing Rule XXXVII, including this amendment, and more detailed guidance for Senate employees will be issued by the Ethics Committee.

Full text of the Moreno resolution is available here.

Full text of Padilla's amendment is available here.

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