House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has called on Congress to consider new rules restricting government officials from trading on prediction markets, following an investigation that examined potential insider trading by federal employees, military personnel and individuals holding security clearances.

The committee released a staff memorandum on November 13 detailing findings from a months-long review. The probe collected nearly 1,700 pages of documents and included five bipartisan staff briefings with representatives from the platforms. Comer, a Kentucky Republican, framed the issue as one of public trust and the need to stop officials from benefiting financially from nonpublic information tied to their positions.

Scope of the Recommended Limits

The memorandum presents options ranging from an outright ban on prediction market trading by covered personnel to more targeted restrictions on contracts linked to government decisions or political outcomes. Staff recommended that any new limits apply across the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The goal, according to the committee, is to ensure public servants cannot profit from information unavailable to the general public and to eliminate even the appearance of such activity.

Existing federal insider trading laws already cover prediction market contracts. The Commodity Exchange Act, as amended by the STOCK Act, prohibits federal employees, members of Congress and others from trading certain derivatives based on nonpublic information obtained through their government roles. The proposed measures would go further by limiting some categories of contracts even when no confidential information is used.

The committee also urged greater information sharing between prediction market operators and federal agencies to support enforcement of any new restrictions.

Investigation Timeline and Platform Responses

The inquiry began on May 22 with formal requests to Kalshi and Polymarket for records on account verification, geographic restrictions and suspicious trading activity. It expanded on September 29 to include Hyperliquid Labs, Crypto.com and Aristotle Exchange, which operates PredictIt. At that stage the committee reported having received nearly 1,000 documents along with briefings from Kalshi and Polymarket.

Committee staff credited the platforms for detecting and reporting most of the insider trading incidents under review. Polymarket has implemented a surveillance system known as PolyGraph, developed with analytics firm Chainalysis, and hired a former law enforcement specialist. Kalshi has also strengthened its detection protocols and has proactively blocked certain categories of users.

Recent Cases Cited in the Probe

One case referenced involves Army Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke. Federal prosecutors alleged that he used classified information about a military operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to place roughly 13 trades on Polymarket between late December 2025 and early January 2026, generating approximately $409,881 in profits. He has pleaded not guilty, and the allegations have not been proven in court.

In a separate matter, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission reached a settlement with former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez. The agency found that Perez used advance access to President Donald Trump’s speech content to trade Kalshi contracts based on specific words or phrases the president would utter. Perez agreed to return $107,539 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. The settlement also imposed a three-year trading ban. The CFTC noted that Kalshi assisted the investigation and that Perez received a reduced penalty for cooperation.

Kalshi separately suspended three congressional candidates—Mark Moran, Matt Klein and Ezekiel Enriquez—after determining they had traded contracts tied to their own campaigns. The exchange treated the activity as violations of its internal rules and did not refer the matters to the CFTC or the Justice Department.

Existing Senate Restrictions

The U.S. Senate already prohibits its members and staff from trading on prediction markets. The chamber adopted the ban by unanimous consent on April 30 through a resolution introduced by Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno. The change took effect immediately. Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson has indicated she plans to introduce a comparable resolution for the House.

Both Polymarket and Kalshi have publicly supported the Senate restrictions. Polymarket stated that its terms of service already barred the prohibited conduct, while Kalshi’s chief executive said the company had moved proactively to block members of Congress and enforce its own insider trading rules.

Any broader restrictions recommended by the House Oversight Committee would require legislation or further congressional action to take effect. The memorandum leaves the precise form of those measures—whether a full ban or narrower limits on specific contracts—to lawmakers.