Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a member of the Financial Services Committee, called Robinhood's move "beyond absurd" and demanding a hearing on "Robinhood's market manipulation."

The White House has said its economic team is monitoring the situation.

The Democratic leaders of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee said they would hold hearings.

Lawmakers from both major parties criticized Robinhood on Thursday after the California-based financial services firm announced it had restricted its customers' ability to buy stock in GameStop and other companies whose shares have been driven up by retail investors organized online.

Robinhood announced earlier in the day that it had limited trade in GameStop and other stocks targeted by investors on the irreverent WallStreetBets Reddit forum, citing "recent volatility."

Investors from the message board had sent shares of the video game retailer up 1,500% in recent weeks, in the process pulling off a calamitous "squeeze" for hedge funds who had bet the company's shares would continue to slide. In a reversal, shares of GameStop tanked on Thursday after the restrictions were put in place.