WASHINGTON ‒ As scandals continue to plague popular online betting platforms, calls within Congress to intervene are getting louder.
A series of controversies in April ‒ from political candidates profiting from their own campaigns to a soldier's alleged bet on a major military operation ‒ prompted a unanimous April 30 decision to change the Senate's rules. Senators and their staff members were banned from trading on prediction markets, where people can buy and sell bets online on future events.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, vowed that it was just the beginning of a new wave of federal scrutiny. Next on the legislative agenda, he said, would be prohibiting all government officials from using insider information to bet on prediction market contracts.
"It should be everybody," Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, told USA TODAY. "Starting with members (of Congress)."
A wave of new bills has been introduced in recent months seeking to rein in the platforms. Arkansas Rep. French Hill, the Republican chairman of his chamber's Financial Services Committee, told USA TODAY the House of Representatives is looking at prohibitions for its lawmakers similar to what the Senate passed. He expects the executive branch to be reviewing its rules, too.
