Senate adopts Padilla amendment to resolution prohibiting senators from betting on prediction markets

by Miriam Raftery | May 14, 2026 9:30 pm

East County News Service

May 14, 2026 (Washington D.C.) – “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,” says Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

The Senate has adopted Padilla’s amendment to a 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,

The amendment also clarified the definition of event contracts to exclude insurance agreements and other traditional contracts. In addition, Padillla’s amendment also included language encouraging the House of Representatives, executive branch, and judicial branch to establish similar restrictions.

“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, Padilla says. “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[1], 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[2].

Full text of Padilla’s amendment is available here[3]

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Endnotes:

XXXVII: https://www.ethics.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/conflictsofinterest
here: https://www.padilla.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/ELL26245-Prediction-Market-Resolution1.pdf
here: https://www.padilla.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/ELL26311.pdf

Source URL: https://eastcountymagazine.org/senate-adopts-padilla-amendment-to-resolution-prohibiting-senators-from-betting-on-prediction-markets/