Magaziner Joins as Original Cosponsor of Bipartisan Bill to Ban Members of Congress from Betting on Politics

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02), a leader on legislation to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks, joined new bipartisan legislation to crack down on corruption and prohibit Members of Congress and their families from profiting from insider trading by placing bets on political events and policy outcomes through prediction betting platforms.

Magaziner's original cosponsorship of this legislation is part of his work to crack down on corruption and prevent elected officials from using their positions to enrich themselves.

"Corruption is out of control in Washington, and so long as elected officials can use their positions to enrich themselves, Washington is not going to focus on meeting the needs of the American people who are struggling to make ends meet." said Magaziner. "In addition to banning Members of Congress from trading stocks, we must also ban insider trading through prediction betting apps. It is unacceptable that Members of Congress can get rich off betting on elections or even on whether their own legislation will pass."

Magaziner is an original cosponsor of Representatives Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) and Adrian Smith's (R-NE-02) bipartisan Preventing Real-time Exploitation and Deceptive Insider Congressional Trading (PREDICT) Act, which would prohibit Members of Congress, their families, the President & Vice President, and political appointees with access to inside information from betting on political events, policy decisions, and other government actions on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi, Polymarket, and PredictIt.

Penalties for violations include a fine equal to 10 percent of the value of the violating transaction and full disgorgement of any profits earned from the transaction.

Magaziner is the Democratic lead in the push in Congress to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. He co-leads the bipartisan bill with the most support for banning congressional stock trading, the Restore Trust in Congress Act, with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21).