Goodlander files stock trading and predictions market bans for Congress, SCOTUS, White House

U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander introduced legislation Wednesday to ban federal officials, elected and appointed, from trading and owning individual stocks or betting on prediction markets like Kalshi or Polymarket.

The proposed prohibition includes members of Congress, the president, the vice president, political appointees, Supreme Court justices, and federal judges, as well as their staffs and family members.

Goodlander, a Democrat representing the western half of New Hampshire, and her co-sponsor, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, are calling it the Public Service Accountability Act. Those who violate the ban would be forced to return their profits and pay a 10% fine on the value of the investment. If enacted, the bill would force everyone covered to sell their stocks.

Banning individual stock trading in Congress has long been popular among voters across the political spectrum, who believe it allows public officials to make money off privileged information. But Congress, whose members stand to lose potential financial windfalls through such a ban, has been defiant against voters’ requests.

Goodlander and Fitzpatrick aren’t the only ones to file legislation on the issue. Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska filed the Stop Insider Trading Act in March, which would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks and impose a seven-day public notice period before stock sales. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, and a group of other Democratic senators, introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act in 2025 to require members of Congress and their families put their stocks into a blind trust.

The PELOSI Act, named by its Republican backers as a jab against former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband is a prolific stock trader, was approved by a Senate committee after its sponsor, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, and the Democrats on the committee voted together. Pelosi herself ultimately endorsed the bill despite its acronym (though it was later renamed the HONEST Act). Republican leadership, however, rejected the bill, which would’ve forbidden lawmakers and their spouses from selling, purchasing, or owning individual stocks during their time in office.

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Goodlander and Fitzpatrick’s proposal goes beyond others by including prediction markets, which have surged in popularity. Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to bet on real-life events, such as whether the U.S. military will invade Cuba, which party wins the 2026 elections, or where Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will hold their wedding.

The companies behind these markets argue that they offer a valuable service in helping people forecast future events. However, the markets have prompted concerns about unregulated insider trading, corruption, and the gamification of politics. Many worry prediction markets have made it hard to prove and enforce insider trading, which is federally illegal.

In an interview on WMUR earlier this week, Goodlander cited a recent high-profile incident as justification for the bill. A U.S. Army soldier was charged with using classified information he gained through his role in the January military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to place a $400,000 bet on Polymarket.

“This is so dangerous and bad for our military,” Goodlander said. “And it’s just wrong.”

In the first three months of 2026, President Donald Trump placed over 3,600 stock trades, according to a federal disclosure form, something his critics point to as evidence that he’s profiting off the White House.