# Democrats’ Midterm Win Followed Months of Prediction-Market Scrutiny

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/52567
Published: 2026-11-09T21:24:45.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-09T21:24:45.000Z
Section: Regulation

> The Senate and House proposals were introduced March 26. Warren and Curtis made their bipartisan letter to the platforms public Oct. 29 and requested responses by Nov. 3.

Congressional proposals to restrict prediction-market contracts date to March, and a bipartisan inquiry into Kalshi and Polymarket was made public Oct. 29, before Democrats won control of both chambers in the Nov. 3 midterms.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. John Curtis, a Republican, made public a letter asking the platforms about safeguards against insider trading, market manipulation and trades using material nonpublic information. They requested responses by Nov. 3.

On March 26, Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced S. 4226 with Sens. Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Van Hollen and Sheldon Whitehouse. The bill would bar contracts tied to elections, sports and military actions, as well as contracts on government actions except for commercial hedging. It was referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced H.R. 8123 on the same day. The House bill was referred to the House Agriculture Committee. Neither proposal has been enacted.

On March 30, Rep. Maxine Waters joined Warren, Merkley and other lawmakers in asking the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Office of Government Ethics to address federal employees’ use of nonpublic information in prediction markets. The lawmakers requested agency guidance and a briefing.

“When anyone can use prediction markets to make a well-timed bet on Congress passing a bill, government decisions, or a military strike, it’s ripe for corruption and erodes public trust,” Merkley said.

The March proposals and the October inquiry all preceded the midterm result. The response deadline in the Warren-Curtis letter was Nov. 3.