Senator Marshall: Democrats Want to Defund the Police

Senator Marshall Joins Mornings with Maria

Salina – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Democrats’ continuing refusal to fund DHS and the Republican plan moving forward, why Republicans haven’t ended the filibuster, the Pentagon’s ask for more funding, the SAVE Act, and President Trump’s wins for American farmers.

Click HERE or on the image above for Senator Marshall’s full interview

On funding DHS, border patrol, and ICE:

“Yeah, I think in principle, yes. Unfortunately, the Democrats are never going to fund ICE or Border Patrol, so we have to do something. And I’m as frustrated as my colleagues on the House side are — I can’t believe we cannot get seven Democrats to come across the aisle and vote in favor of our national security. In a country with 50 million noncitizens in our country, some legal, some illegal, they won’t fund Border Patrol, they won’t fund ICE. So we have to do something. I think the reconciliation process is probably the ticket to do it. And now you know, the question is, for how long do we do it? Do we fund just ICE and border patrol, or do we fund all of DHS and just take Democrats out of the equation? Lastly, remember, the Democrats waited 30 days from the time DHS was shut down before they would even engage in talks, and the talks were never serious.”

On ending the filibuster:

“Well, you know, Maria, I spent hours and hours trying to think through this. I’m willing to end the filibuster for certain things: national security, voting integrity, those would be a couple of things I’m willing to do it for. But a third of our conference isn’t, and I respect where they’re coming from. The filibuster protects you when you’re in the minority, and keeps wide swings, say, in tax policy and other issues, and it protects small states as well, so the filibuster has its place. I wish we could enshrine it in the Constitution, because I do fear the Democrats will end it the next time they control the Senate.”

“Yeah, Maria, so I’ve done that calculus, and I agree with you, so I’m willing to do it. But I’m telling you, a third of the Republican caucus, very thoughtful men and women, are not. They’re so concerned that they want to protect us when we’re a minority. I respect them, and there’s not a right or wrong answer on this. This is one of the toughest — you know I’ve spent as much time with this as the decision where to go to medical school, what to major in college. All those major decisions, I’ve given that much thought to this, and it is not black and white.”

On defense funding:

“Well, Maria, I think spending a trillion dollars is plenty. I’m going to call the Pentagon out on this — look we knew that a drone war was coming, but we weren’t ready for it, it’s so frustrating. Over, I think, three years ago, I was in Israel and met the person who invented a laser that would do the job that we’re talking about. I think within the next year, Israel will have that laser installed. The challenge with lasers is as they get up further and further from the source, the energy dissipates, so we need a laser that actually reaches out and touches something. So it could be like 30 cents at each shot, rather than a million dollars a shot. But our Pentagon and our defense manufacturers were so dug in on these million-dollar missiles at the time, they had no interest in doing that. I think we’re spending plenty of money, we need to reorganize and rethink how we’re spending it.”

On passing a reconciliation package:

“Absolutely on board with it. I’m on the Budget Committee, I’ve been pushing for this for over a month that we needed to do a reconciliation package. The question is, how much and for how long, what part of voter integrity could survive the Byrd Rule, all those types of things as well. And hopefully, in this two weeks when we’re not in DC, people can put their heads on and think through a reconciliation package so we get back there, we can get it through the process, the Senate floor, the House floor, within another week’s time.”

On putting the SAVE Act in a reconciliation package:

“I’m afraid we can’t put all of it in there, Maria. I think that we can nip around the edges, I think that we can work on them going through their own registration lists, making the elections more secure. But getting the voter ID in there? I don’t see how that survives the Parliamentarian.”

On President Trump’s support for farmers:

“Yeah, I think the President has done more for the American farmer than any administration has ever done. Let’s start with the $50 billion for the Rural Health Transformation fund, another $50 billion for crop insurance, $40 billion in Farm Aid, 20 trade deals are done, that’s going to mean $60 billion of trade as well, and then what he went through increasing the renewable volume. So he’s going to increase the amount of renewable diesel made from soybeans by 60%. So you’re seeing people out right now, my farmers are choosing, ‘Do we plant corn or do we plant soybeans?’ because of increased trade and because of what the President has done with the renewable diesel volumes. Then they’re going to require more and more diesel fuel from soybeans, maybe a 15% consumption of the soybean.”

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Senator McCormick Welcomes NIH Director to Pittsburgh for Full Day Tour of Life Sciences and Research Institutions

Visit Highlights Pennsylvania’s Role as a Leader in Life Sciences

PITTSBURGH, PA – U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) today hosted National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for a full-day visit to Pittsburgh, where they toured some of the nation’s leading life sciences and research institutions. The visit highlighted how federal research investment translates into jobs, medical breakthroughs, and economic growth and why Pennsylvania continues to be a productive partner in biomedical innovation.

“Pennsylvania is one of the great life sciences hubs in the world, and I was proud to welcome Director Bhattacharya to Pittsburgh to see it firsthand,” said Senator McCormick. “What’s happening here is extraordinary — treatment centers where discoveries are being made, researchers dedicated to finding answers, and families whose lives have been changed. That is accountability you can see. With advances in artificial intelligence and new technologies accelerating research, Pennsylvania is well positioned to lead the next generation of medical innovation.”

“I am truly honored to spend the day in Pittsburgh, a city that exemplifies what reinvention can look like at its best. Once defined by its steel industry, Pittsburgh has transformed itself into a thriving center for biotechnology and innovation which is a remarkable evolution. What stands out most is the extraordinary collaboration among the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC, and Carnegie Mellon University. Together, they represent a powerful trifecta of research and innovation, seamlessly bridging cutting-edge technology with biomedical discovery in ways that set a standard for institutions across the country. Pennsylvania’s emergence as a leader in this space underscores the profound impact of sustained NIH investment in research institutions beyond the coasts. The breakthroughs happening here are not only advancing science, but improving human health in meaningful and far-reaching ways, said NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

Throughout the visit, Senator McCormick convened researchers, clinicians, philanthropists, investors, business leaders, and university executives from across the Pittsburgh region to highlight the impact of NIH-supported research and the strength of Pennsylvania’s life sciences ecosystem.

At the UPMC Vision Institute, Senator McCormick and Dr. Bhattacharya observed research moving rapidly from the laboratory into clinical practice, with advances in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease offering new hope to patients at risk of losing their sight. At the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, they witnessed the direct impact of federally supported care on patients recovering from strokes, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and limb loss.

They also visited the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center —one of only 57 Comprehensive Cancer Centers across the country and the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in western Pennsylvania — they met researchers advancing new cancer treatments and prevention, bringing that work to patients in rural communities across the region. The day culminated with Senator McCormick and Director Bhattacharya leading a Life Sciences Industry Symposium, where they met with business leaders, university executives, hospital administrators, philanthropists, and investors from across the Pittsburgh region and discussed how NIH funding is driving commercialization and growth in the biotechnology sector.

Pennsylvania ranks as the fourth largest recipient of NIH funding in the nation, receiving $2.27 billion in federal research funding in FY 2025. The University of Pittsburgh and UPMC alone received $670 million, ranking ninth nationally. Statewide, NIH investment supports more than 21,000 research jobs and generates $5.31 billion in annual economic activity.

NIH-driven commercialization has also helped launch thousands of businesses and nearly 100,000 biopharmaceutical jobs across the Commonwealth. For every dollar of NIH funding, $2.56 flows back into the economy — a strong and consistent return for American taxpayers.

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Merkley, Cassidy, Smith, Marshall to CMS: Work with Congress to Crack Down on Bad-Faith Actors Overcharging Taxpayers for Medicare Advantage

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Louisiana’s U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D., Minnesota’s U.S. Senator Tina Smith, and Kansas’ U.S. Senator Roger Marshall sent a bipartisan letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D., urging the agency to work with Congress to address the persistent issue of overpayments in Medicare Advantage. This bad-faith practice, known as upcoding, occurs when health insurance companies add unsupported diagnosis codes to a patient’s medical record to make them appear sicker and secure higher payments, even if enrollees do not receive treatment for those conditions.

The bipartisan group of Senators write, “We are pleased to see that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a key provision of theNo Unreasonable Payments, Coding, or Diagnoses for the Elderly (No UPCODE) Act to exclude diagnoses from unlinked chart review records from risk score calculations in the 2027 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Advance Notice. While we hope to see this finalized, we believe the evidence requires Congress to pass the No UPCODE Act to truly address the persistent issue of risk score gaming and to curb abuses in coding intensity.”

“As you are already aware, health insurance companies engage in ‘upcoding,’ which occurs when ‘unsupported diagnoses inflate risk-adjusted payments and drive improper payments in the MA program,’” they continued. “According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), in 2025, CMS was projected to overpay MA by $40 billion or 10 percent due to ‘upcoding,’ overstating the health differences between MA and fee-for-service enrollees.”

The lawmakers’ letter precedes CMS finalizing 2027 payment rates for Medicare Advantage and directs the agency to work with Congress to address upcoding.

Merkley and Cassidy also lead the bipartisan No UPCODE Act, a bill to crack down on Medicare Advantage plans overcharging taxpayers for care.

Full text of the letter can be found by clicking here and follows below:

Dear Administrator Oz:

We are pleased to see that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a key provision of the No Unreasonable Payments, Coding, or Diagnoses for the Elderly (No UPCODE) Act to exclude diagnoses from unlinked chart review records from risk score calculations in the 2027 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Advance Notice. While we hope to see this finalized, we believe the evidence requires Congress to pass the No UPCODE Act to truly address the persistent issue of risk score gaming and to curb abuses in coding intensity.

As you are already aware, health insurance companies engage in “upcoding,” which occurs when “unsupported diagnoses inflate risk-adjusted payments and drive improper payments in the MA program.” According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), in 2025, CMS was projected to overpay MA by $40 billion or 10 percent due to “upcoding,” overstating the health differences between MA and fee-for-service enrollees.

We were pleased to see that CMS has begun to address upcoding by proposing to exclude diagnoses submitted through chart review records that are not linked to a specific encounter record. As the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found, unlinked chart reviews “resulted in an estimated $6.7 billion in risk-adjusted payments for 2017.”

However, diagnoses submitted through unlinked chart reviews are just one source of excess risk score growth that increases MA payments beyond beneficiaries’ true health status. Congress should do more to address upcoding, like directing HHS to exclude diagnoses collected from health risk assessments and all chart reviews. According to MedPAC, between 2020 and 2023, half of the higher coding intensity in MA was attributable to diagnoses collected using these tools. In addition, the No UPCODE Act proposes to exclude diagnoses from both unlinked and linked chart reviews, due to growing concerns that insurers may seek to recapture lost diagnoses by linking chart reviews to specific encounters, potentially dampening the effect of the proposed change to exclude diagnoses from unlinked chart reviews.

Additionally, Congress should direct HHS to modify the risk adjustment methodology to incorporate two years of diagnostic data rather than one year of data, in order to capture conditions that are not consistently reported year-to-year, such as underreported chronic conditions.

Finally, Congress should direct HHS to adjust payments based on the true coding pattern differences between MA and fee-for-service Medicare. MedPAC’s preliminary 2026 assessments finds that, net of the statutory minimum coding adjustment, higher MA coding intensity will increase payments to MA plans by 4% in 2026, suggesting that a higher coding pattern adjustment is needed to achieve actuarial equivalency.

We appreciate CMS’s steps to address payments to MA plans arising due to “upcoding” and the opportunity to comment on the 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Advance Notice.

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Rep. Khanna & Sen. Merkley Reintroduce the End Polluter Welfare For Enhanced Oil Recovery Act

Washington, DC — Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) alongside Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) reintroduced the End Polluter Welfare for Enhanced Oil Recovery Act (EOR) to end the tax break rewarding the fossil fuel industry for using carbon capture for EOR. The legislation would reform one of the largest and most egregious domestic fossil fuel subsidies.

Fossil fuel companies currently receive a tax credit for injecting carbon dioxide into oil wells to extract more oil, a process known as enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The credit was expanded in 2022 and is part of the $34.8B in subsidies Big Oil collects annually on top of the over $100B they earn in annual profits. The subsidies do nothing to lower prices at the pump and increase the profits of fossil fuel companies. Especially as Americans are paying over a dollar more per gallon at the pump on average due to President Trump’s war in Iran, we need to be prioritizing lowering prices for Americans, not using tax dollars to pad the pockets of the fossil fuel industry.

“Subsidizing enhanced oil recovery undermines our ability to hold Big Oil accountable and just increases profits for fossil fuel companies,” said Rep. Ro Khanna. “As the Trump administration continues the reckless war in Iran, Congress must ensure help goes to Americans getting crushed by prices at the pump and not Big Oil.”

“It is outrageous that Republicans included billions of dollars of new subsidies to oil companies in their ‘Big, Ugly Betrayal’ law while gutting health care for millions of Americans already struggling,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley. “Climate chaos is fueling wildfires, droughts, and other extreme weather events, while the fossil fuel companies making record profits are undermining our democracy with pay-to-play politics. Congress must put the health of the American people, our climate, and our economy above the wish lists of powerful special interests by passing this bill to end rewards for billionaire corporations at the expense of hardworking families.”

“As Americans are facing rising energy costs and a broad crisis of affordability, they are more fed up than ever with taxpayer handouts going to the very industries fleecing them – and poisoning the planet while they’re at it. With this critical legislation, Senator Merkley and Representative Khanna are standing up for families and pushing back on a system that priorities profits over people. Ending billions of dollars in corporate giveaways for the oil and gas industry should be at the top of a common-sense agenda in Congress,” said Jim Walsh, Policy Director, Food & Water Watch.

“The time to end handouts to oil billionaires is now. We are glad to see Representative Ro Khanna and Senator Merkley’s “End Polluter Welfare for Enhanced Oil Recovery Act” that will end tax breaks that encourage big business to dig, burn and dump more and put our communities in harm’s way. Contaminated drinking water, explosions, or pipeline leaks which can occur when using false climate scams such as enhanced oil recovery should be off limits, especially at a time when families face increasing attacks on their economic, health, and environmental well-being,” said Mar Zepeda Salazar, Legislative Director, Climate Justice Alliance.

“The grossly generous 45Q tax credit handout makes it profitable at just $16 per barrel for multi-billion oil corporations to extract what would be otherwise unprofitable oil deposits using carbon dioxide via the Enhanced Oil Recovery process, according to analysis by Enervus,” said Paul Blackburn, attorney and policy advisory at Bold Alliance. “Extraction costs via Enhanced Oil Recovery are not economic absent these wasteful federal subsidies that are fleecing taxpayers to boost Big Oil’s profits, and should be eliminated.”

Cosponsors: Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Kevin Mullin (D-CA).

The full list of organizations that have endorsed the End Polluter Welfare for Enhanced Oil Recovery Act of 2026 include: Better Path Coalition, Bold Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for International Environmental Law, Climate Justice Alliance, Earthworks, Eco-Justice Collaborative, Food & Water Watch, For a Better Bayou, Friends of the Earth US, Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition, Oil Change International, Our Revolution, Sierra Club, The Alliance for Affordable Energy, The Raices Collab Project.

The full text of the legislation can be viewed here.


Warren, Merkley, 40+ Lawmakers Push Regulators to Address Illegal Insider Trading in Prediction Markets

Multiple incidents prompted speculation about possible insider trading in prediction markets by federal employees

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Representative Maxine Waters, Representative Angie Craig (D-Minn.), and 37 other lawmakers, wrote to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) urging the agencies to address illegal insider trading in prediction markets by federal employees.

Since January, multiple incidents have prompted heavy concern about possible insider trading in prediction markets by federal employees. A Polymarket user made $400,000 by betting on the capture of Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolas Maduro. Prediction market users projected that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s speech would last for less than 65 minutes and profited when she abruptly ended the speech just 30 seconds before the 65-minute mark. Since then, there have been numerous reports of suspicious trades relating to the war in Iran.

The lawmakers point out that currently, under the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA), as amended by the STOCK Act, it is unlawful for federal employees to engage in insider trading, including in prediction markets.

“We ask that the CFTC and OGE issue guidance reminding federal employees of their existing legal obligation to refrain from using their insider governmental information to profit from prediction market trades,” wrote the lawmakers.

In addition, the lawmakers requested that the CFTC and OGE provide a staff-level briefing on this issue and respond to questions regarding any existing investigations into federal employees engaging in insider trading in prediction markets and any steps the agencies may have taken to detect and prevent them from doing so.

The lawmakers who joined the letter include Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), along with Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), John Mannion (D-N.Y.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Eugene Vindman (D-Va.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), and Dina Titus (D-Nev.).

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NEWS RELEASE: ICYMI Senator Moody Introduces STOP Fraud in Medicaid Act Targeting Bad Actors Stealing Taxpayer Funds

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Ashley Moody is targeting fraudsters pocketing ill-gotten taxpayer funds with her new STOP FRAUD in Medicaid Act. The bill gives new authority to state Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU)—operated by state Attorneys General—to investigate and prosecute those fraudulently bilking the system to obtain funds through benefitting claims in addition to fraudulent providers.

“I fought fraud as Florida’s Attorney General, recovering millions of dollars for taxpayers, and I am fighting it now as U.S. Senator, finding and closing gaps that exist in our laws. At a time when our nation’s debt is skyrocketing, we must increase our efforts to tackle wasteful spending. The STOP FRAUD in Medicaid Act gives states the authority to catch and punish fraud fast—both by fraudulent providers and recipients alike,” said Senator Ashley Moody.

BACKGROUND:

The STOP FRAUD in Medicaid Act follows the uncovering of widespread Medicaid fraud found in Minnesota, where reports claim that at least $9 billion billed across 14 Medicaid services in the state may be fraudulent.

Currently, state MFCUs focus on prosecuting fraud by Medicaid providers, such as doctors or clinics. Senator Moody’s new bill would allow MFCUs to now investigate people who fraudulently receive benefits.

MFCUs operate in each state to investigate and prosecute providers that intentionally defraud the state’s Medicaid program.

The STOP FRAUD in Medicaid Act is the latest action Senator Moody has taken to combat the theft of taxpayer funds. Senator Moody recently introduced the Punishing Health Care Fraudsters Act, which increases financial and criminal penalties for health care fraud across the board.

The Florida MFCU under then-Attorney General Moody obtained more than $180 million in settlements and judgments.

Senator Moody is also cosponsoring the SCAM Act, which would increase safety and protect the integrity of American citizenship by ensuring individuals who join terrorist organizations or are naturalized through fraud or deception can have their citizenship revoked.

Read more about Senator Moody’s new bill on Fox News.

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In Tacoma, Murray Meets with Veterans as Trump Undermines VA, Highlights Cost of War and Calls Again for End to War with Iran

Murray, who was an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War, also clashed with the Bush administration over their failure to properly invest in VA care for the influx of Iraq war veterans—today she is issuing a similar warning, highlighting how politicians like Donald Trump are happy to send Americans off to war, but are indifferent to the cost of war when our servicemembers come home

ICYMI: At Senate Veterans’ Affairs Hearing, Murray Slams Trump for Indifference to Cost of War

NYT: Despite Promises, Veterans Affairs Department Cut Thousands of Roles for Doctors and Nurses

***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***

Tacoma, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and senior member and former chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, held a roundtable discussion with local veterans, particularly as the Trump administration undermines VA by cutting critical open roles for VA health care workers. Senator Murray also called to end the war with Iran, warning about the cost of war and reiterating that the Trump administration has no plan to expand VA care should the President deploy troops on the ground, something he has explicitly refused to rule out.

Murray was joined by Anders Ibsen, Mayor of Tacoma; Ryan Mello, Pierce County Executive; Robert Sheetz, Manager of Pierce County Veterans Program; Paul Nance, President of AFGE Local 498 (American Lake VA), and a veteran; Charolette Anderson, Vice President of AFGE Local 498 (American Lake VA), and a veteran; Erin Cooper, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Program Manager for the SSG Fox Grant at NineLine Veteran Services, and a veteran; Eric Ballentine, Program manager of Minority Veterans of America, and a veteran; and Dr. Nichole Ayres, Clinic Director at The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Valley Cities.

“Unfortunately, under this President, some of the challenges at VA are painfully obvious. From day one, the Trump administration has tried to push out workers at every single agency and VA was no exception. Since Trump took office, VA is down 25,000 workers. You can’t just push out that many people and not expect an impact on the quality of care. VA has a lot of open roles after all of this—but instead of filling them, the Trump Administration plans to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care jobs at VA. That is so alarming to me, and I’m pushing back,” said Senator Murray. “We have to talk about Trump’s war of choice in Iran, and what that means for VA. It is clear Trump has no long-term plan for the war. And, unfortunately, I doubt he has a plan for what happens as servicemembers come back, and our VA system—already strained—is stretched even further to care for an influx of wounded veterans. There is a huge cost to war—and it’s not just the cost of missiles. There is the sacrifice our veterans make, and the obligation we have to get them the care they need and deserve. I don’t support shoveling billions at Trump’s war, but I will always fight for our veterans. I won’t let his short-sightedness shortchange care for our veterans.”

Pierce County is home to more than 105,000 veterans or 11.4% of the County’s total population. Of those, approximately 34,000 receive disability compensation from the VA for service-related injuries.

Recent reporting exposed the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care jobs at VA in December, including unfilled positions for doctors, nurses, and support staff. In addition, VA already lost more than 30,000 employees between January and September last year as a result of President Trump and VA Secretary Collins’ hiring freeze, deferred resignations, early retirements, and the significant number of VA staff who have quit due to Trump and Collins’ punitive workforce policies.

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been outspoken in standing up for veterans, VA employees, and VA researchers against the Trumps administration’s indiscriminate mass layoffs that will undermine critical services our nation’s veterans rely on every day. Last January, Murray called on President Trump to exempt all VA employees from the hiring freeze issued as part of his Day One Executive Orders. Senator Murray, was among the first to raise the alarm about the layoffs of VA researchers and called on President Trump to immediately reverse the firings. She pressed VA Deputy Secretary nominee Dr. Paul Lawrence on the firings of VA researchers at the hearing on his nomination, and held multiple press conferences with VA employees and veterans in Washington state who were abruptly laid off for no reason as part of the Trump administration’s mass firings at VA. Senator Murray also released a report on how Trump’s mass firings at VA will hurt veterans in Washington state. Last year, Senator Murray also forcefully denounced the Trump administration’s initial plan to fire 80,000 employees at VA. Toward the end of last year, Senator Murray released a video slamming the Trump administration’s new plan not to fill thousands of open positions at VA, and demanding answers.

Recently, Senator Murray slammed Trump and Republicans at a hearing for abandoning veterans who rely on SNAP, called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate how Republicans’ health care-cutting agenda will affect veterans and their families, and demanded answers on the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate as many as 35,000 jobs at VA. Senator Murray also slammed Trump at a hearing earlier this month for his indifference to the real cost of war with Iran. Senator Murray has also been leading the charge against the Trump administration for implementing a near-total abortion ban at VA, banning abortion care for veterans and their dependents—even when a woman’s health is in danger, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

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Murray Highlights Efforts to Boost Federal Investments to Treat Addiction—Rejecting Trump Cuts, Secures $2.6 Million for Tacoma-Pierce Co. Public Health Department Mobile Medical Services

Murray rejected proposed cuts by the Trump administration to SAMSHA and instead boosted funding to help treat substance use disorder in our communities

Murray noted how she passed the largest bipartisan bill to tackle opioid addiction under the first Trump administration, yet now Trump is derailing much of that same work

ICYMI: Murray Secures Hundreds of Millions for Transportation & Housing Projects Across WA in Final Appropriations Bills; Boosts Funding for Medical Research, Housing, Child Care & More

***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***

Tacoma, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion with health care leaders from Pierce County to talk about how the $2.6 million she secured in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for the Tacoma-Pierce County Public Health Department is supporting mobile medical services to treat substance use disorder and help people with behavioral health issues across the county. Murray also highlighted the national investments she was able to protect and boost to help treat substance use disorder—rejecting cuts proposed by Trump.

Murray was joined by Anders Ibsen, Mayor of Tacoma; Ryan Mello, Pierce County Executive; Chantell Harmon Reed, Director of Public Health, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department; Christie Steele, Street Medicine Nurse Practitioner, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department; Vickie McLaurin, City of Tacoma Neighborhood and Community Services Director; and Olga Kimbrel, Medical Reserve Corps President, MRC; Registered Nurse.

“Overdose deaths from opioids and fentanyl have been especially devastating. Our cities and public health workers are on the frontlines tackling prevention, education, and connecting patients with resources for substance use treatment and recovery. And we have made real progress nationwide—after years of overdose deaths rising higher and higher, we are finally seeing some of those numbers come back down. But we have a ways to go, and unfortunately Trump shows every day he doesn’t get it. Last year he fired over 100 employees at SAMHSA. And one of the first things he tried to do this year was terminate some $2 billion in SAMHSA grants. That would have been catastrophic. I pushed back on that immediately—as did so many people—and we got it quickly reversed. And in Trump’s budget last year, he called to eliminate SAMHSA entirely,” said Senator Murray. “That’s why I promised to rip Trump’s budget in half—and that’s exactly what I did. I protected SAMHSA funding, and even increased block grants for mental health, substance use, opioid response, and the 988 Lifeline—crucial investments. I also secured Congressionally Directed Spending throughout Washington state, like $2.6 million for Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s mobile medical clinic. This is lifesaving care that will bring services directly to folks where they are. These funds will help that work reach farther and reach more people in rural areas and suburbs.”

The City of Tacoma and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department launched a pilot program in October 2024, funded by a $1 million state grant, to bring clinical care, behavioral health care, and chronic condition treatment services directly to people experiencing homelessness. The care teams are composed of a medical provider, a behavioral health professional, and a community health worker.

When combining all of the Fiscal Year 2026 funding bills Murray authored and passed, she secured nearly $500 million in CDS for WA projects and has helped set aside over $5 billion in programmatic funding for Washington state.

“This $2.6 million investment directly aligns with our region’s shared commitment to address substance use disorders through prevention, treatment, and recovery,” said Chantell Harmon Reed, Director of Public Health, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. “By expanding our low-barrier, community-based model, this funding strengthens local capacity to deliver evidence-based treatment, reduces preventable overdose deaths, and advances a public health–centered response to the opioid crisis.”

Murray continues to be dedicated to finding solutions for people in Washington state and across the country to treat substance use disorder and access behavioral health care services. As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in FY26, Senator Murray rejected Trump’s proposed $1 billion cut to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and protected its funding, including a $5 million increase to the Mental Health Block Grant, an additional $5 million for the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery Services Block Grant, a $20 million increase for State Opioid Response grants, and a $15 million increase for the 988 Lifeline.

In January, Senator Murray condemned the Trump administration’s decision to terminate as many as 2,800 SAMHSA grants totaling approximately $2 billion for communities across the country to combat substance use disorder and provide mental health services. Senator Murray also joined her colleagues last October slamming the Trump administration for recklessly mass firing employees across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including threatening substance use disorder work by firing over 100 employees from SAMHSA, gutting the agency, and decimating the Division of Children and School Mental Health, leaving no staff to improve youth mental health outcomes.

Senator Murray led passage of the original SUPPORT Act as top Democrat on the HELP Committee in 2018, working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate to develop the bipartisan bill which includes a package of solutions to help address the root causes and ripple effects of the opioid crisis. The SUPPORT Act came together after months of bipartisan work from Senator Murray and her colleagues to find ways to help curb substance use disorders in communities ravaged by the opioid crisis in Washington state and across the nation. The legislation included several provisions Senator Murray fought for to support children born to mothers battling substance use disorder, including trauma-informed care programs and increased access to mental health care for children—Murray helped reauthorize her legislation last year.

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Sens. Ossoff & Rev. Warnock, Reps. McBath & Williams Upgrading Drinking Water Infrastructure in College Park

College Park, Ga. — U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock, alongside Congresswomen Nikema Williams (GA-05) and Lucy McBath (GA-06), are delivering resources to help remove lead pipes from College Park’s drinking water infrastructure.

Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock and Reps. Williams and McBath brought Republicans and Democrats in Congress together to help the City of College Park upgrade its drinking water infrastructure. The Federal resources will help the city replace lead pipes with ductile iron pipes, improving drinking water quality for families.

Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock and Reps. Williams and McBath are delivering $2,134,000 for the project through bipartisan government funding legislation that became law on January 23.

“Clean, safe, healthy drinking water is not a luxury — it’s a necessity,” Sen. Ossoff said. “That’s why we brought Republicans and Democrats together to upgrade water infrastructure in College Park.”

“In a nation as rich and powerful as ours, there is no reason any community should have to worry about the quality of their drinking water.” said Senator Warnock. “I am proud to have worked alongside my Georgia colleagues to provide these critical upgrades, and peace of mind, for the College Park community.”

Congresswoman Nikema Williams said: “When Georgian families turn on their faucet, there shouldn’t be a question about the safety of their water—especially not in the wealthiest country in the world. I’m proud to have brought $2,134,000 back to College Park and secured clean, safe, and dependable drinking water with my Georgia colleagues.”

“Some of College Park’s most well-established residents are threatened by corroding and failing lead pipes,”McBath said. “We owe it to these residents to bring overdue federal investments back to their community to ensure they don’t have to worry about access to clean drinking water. I am grateful to my colleagues in the Georgia delegation for working together to deliver this funding to College Park.”

“The City is immeasurably grateful to Senator Ossoff, Senator Reverend Warnock, and Representatives Williams and McBath for their leadership and for helping secure this funding for College Park. These critical upgrades will help improve drinking water quality and keep families safe for generations to come,” said College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom.

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Reed Calls on Trump Admin. to Pause Proposed Rule That Would Weaken Retirement Security for America’s Workers

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after the Trump Administration proposed a risky and unsuitable new rule that could expose Americans’ 401(k) plans and retirement accounts to shaky and largely unregulated private markets and cryptocurrencies, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) warned that it could weaken protection for more than 155 million American retirement savers while benefitting asset management and crypto insiders. Senator Reed is concerned the Trump Administration could end up spreading financial trouble that unfairly harms retail investors and is urging the U.S Department of Labor to hit pause.

Senator Reed, a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, stated:

“This proposal could expose Americans’ retirement savings to higher fees, more risk, less transparency, and limited recourse if things go wrong.

“It would help shield well-connected wealth managers from accountability and provide them with new outlets to sell risky and unsuitable higher-fee investment products to the masses. Morningstar warns that investors in these types of funds are likely to pay up to three times more than traditional stock and bond funds that could gobble up returns.

“Private markets have experienced rapid growth. While they can be an important source of financing for some businesses, they currently lack the guardrails and transparency needed to be more suitable for retail investors.

“I urge the Trump Administration to hit pause. The priority should be protecting the safety of people’s retirement portfolios and the soundness of our financial system. The Trump Administration needs to answer basic questions and the public needs to know: Who are all the participants in the private credit markets and what are their financial exposures to each other? What is the risk that a downturn in private credit could become a systemic risk? If that does happen, what would be the effect on the U.S. economy as a whole and will the taxpayers be asked to bail out any financial firms?”

Last week, Senator Reed sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Scott Bessent urging a “prompt review of risk that is building up in the credit markets and to assess whether these risks may become systemic.”

During Bessent’s tenure at the helm of Treasury, there have been jitters in the private credit market as the Trump Administration has already presided over a huge increase in Main Street retail investor exposure to private credit through their ordinary brokerage accounts. Today’s proposal to open private credit up to mass market retirement accounts will significantly magnify and deepen that exposure.

Other Trump-appointed regulators have followed Bessent’s lead and taken their eye off the ball.

The New York Times notes that the Federal Reserve, which is responsible for protecting the banking system from risks originating with nonbank private credit firms, “is also enacting substantial changes in how it assesses risk across the financial system and regulates banks.

“Under the leadership of Michelle W. Bowman, whom Mr. Trump elevated to be vice chair [of the Federal Reserve] for supervision last year, the Fed has announced a roughly 30 percent cut to supervisory staff in Washington and refocused the central bank’s attention to only matters that constitute a “material financial risk” to a lender’s “safety and soundness” or the financial system.

“Ms. Bowman has simultaneously loosened the regulatory reins on banks of all sizes across the country, reducing by billions of dollars the capital they are required to set aside to cover potential losses.”

A report published last week by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) – an investigative arm of Congress – found that Trump’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cut 18 percent of its workforce in the past year, due in large part to Elon Musk’s DOGE. The area of the SEC hit hardest by departures was the Division of Investment Management, which is supposed to oversee sponsors of private credit funds, and which saw a brain drain of 24 percent of its staff.

The GAO reported that several SEC employees “believed SEC had not yet experienced the full effects of these departures” and one employee said the agency “has many ‘single points of failure’ in key areas of expertise and that it would take time to determine what expertise the agency had lost.”

Reporting by Bloomberg notes that “the staff departures come as funds riding the private credit boom are now facing scrutiny and skittishness among investors.”

“The Trump Administration is opening up private credit to 155 million retirement accounts while simultaneously turning a blind eye to growing risks in this market and gutting the regulators who protect retail investors. Instead of offering up ‘retirement roulette’ and higher fees to the masses, the Trump Administration should focus on ensuring fairness, transparency, and investor protection initiatives that benefit the financial well-being of average Americans and the strength and resilience of our economy,” concluded Senator Reed.


Reed Urges House Republicans to Pass Bipartisan Senate-Backed DHS Funding Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to safeguard Americans and strengthen homeland security, all one hundred members of the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate unanimously approved a compromise agreement to fund U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operations and provide pay for key personnel, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, U.S. Coast Guard members, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) employees, Secret Service agents, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff. The bill omits new money for immigration enforcement and deportation operations because Republicans refused to accept commonsense reforms and basic accountability standards to ensure Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) adherence to similar practices and guardrails required of other law enforcement agencies that issue officers a badge, gun, and authority to use lethal force.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the DHS funding bill on Friday, but Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are blocking consideration of the bipartisan agreement in the lower chamber. Instead, House Republicans are pushing for a partisan bill that was already declared ‘dead on arrival’ in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, the Republican Senate Majority Leader has already adjourned the Senate for a two-week recess.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) stated:

“It is not easy to get 100 U.S. Senators in full agreement. But every U.S. Senator from every single state agreed on the need to put the safety and security of the American people first. After extensive negotiations, we passed an overdue, bipartisan bill to help secure the nation.

“Pressing national security challenges require serious, stable leadership. The Senate unanimously agreed to pass a tough but fair agreement to get DHS working again. Instead of debate and consideration in the House, Republicans opted to rush to their polarized, self-segregated social media echo chambers to try to belittle a bipartisan bill that prioritizes the safety and security of the American people.

“The good news is Speaker Johnson still has time to do the right thing and bring the Senate-passed bill to the floor. The House can reopen DHS any time the Speaker wants to. So far, he has chosen to prolong the shutdown and try to score political points. But the American people are smart. They understand that 100 percent of the U.S. Senate agreed to this deal. So the phony claim that ‘Democrats are obstructionist’ is undermined by the undeniable fact that Republicans control the Senate and unanimously approved this DHS deal.

“President Trump and Congressional Republicans have already bragged about hollowing out several DHS agencies. They literally sought to eliminate FEMA. They undermined the Cyber Infrastructure Security Agency, which defends our country against cyber threats. CISA is down one-third of its personnel. The head of the agency was unfairly removed and its budget was slashed. Why? Was CISA ineffective? Was it not doing its job? Were cyber attacks getting through? No. President Trump was upset because CISA countered his ‘Big Lie’ that U.S. elections were rigged. President Trump retaliated by dismantling CISA and rolling back federal support for election security.

“Americans deserve a federal government that works for them, but the Republican-controlled government is serving special interests instead of the national interest. And now, in the midst of Trump’s war on Iran, and at a time of heightened security threats and an economic Trump-slump, House Republicans are refusing to pay frontline DHS employees rather than allow an up or down vote.

“Washington is under complete Republican control and Speaker Johnson and House Republicans are failing to do the most basic part of their job. They should allow a vote on the unanimously-passed bipartisan Senate bill that prioritizes defending our homeland and keeps critical services running for taxpayers. Republicans can try to spin this however they want, but the Senate did its part, and unanimously approved the agreement.

“Every day Republicans refuse to reopen DHS is another reminder that Republican control of Washington is failing the American people and causing unnecessary financial strain for working families.”

Most DHS employees such as TSA officers missed their first full paycheck earlier this month and could soon miss another one if Congressional Republicans refuse to act. Republicans have repeatedly pointed out that ICE and CBP are ‘shutdown-proof’ because Republicans used a process known as “reconciliation” to provide immigration-related budget authority on top of the discretionary budget. Under the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Budget Act’ (OBBBA) law, ICE received roughly $75 billion in new budget authority – about seven times ICE’s typical annual appropriation of $10 billion. These reconciliation funds remain available to the Trump Administration whether Congress passes appropriations bills or not. Republicans also provided these ICE funds to the Trump Administration with less oversight than normal appropriations.

Even conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute have sounded the alarm, noting: “There is virtually no comprehensive public accounting of how the more than $190 billion in OBBBA funds allocated to DHS have been or will be spent. That should be extraordinarily concerning, given the raw size of the cash infusion (ICE received 7 times its annual budget) and reports about unlawful behavior, poor oversight, and misuse of taxpayer resources.”

Senator Reed concluded: “House Republicans claim Senate Republicans agreed to a deal that doesn’t adequately fund ICE. But Republicans already gave this Administration way more ICE funding than it could responsibly spend, and abdicated oversight. Now, the same House Republicans claiming ICE needs more money can’t even tell taxpayers exactly how ICE is spending what it was already allocated through reconciliation. We do know ICE has apportioned nearly $25 billion already just for detention facilities – that is more than twice ICE’s entire budget from the previous year and roughly three times the annual spending of the entire Federal Bureau of Prisons. But we don’t know the details of how that money is being spent. Democrats support strong border security and real oversight that prevents abuse and misuse of taxpayer resources. We believe transparency is essential to good government. It’s not enough for House Republicans to feign outrage when the public learns after the fact that their hard-earned tax dollars are wasted by Trump officials on things like luxury jets and overpriced vanity commercials that line the pockets of Trump insiders. These same Republicans unwisely ceded their oversight and authority to Donald Trump when they used a party-line vote to produce an unprecedented ICE slush fund. They made the Trump Administration less accountable and made themselves less effective. This DHS shutdown is 100 percent on them. House Republicans have no one to blame but themselves.”


ICYMI: Sens. Schiff, Curtis Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Ban Sports Prediction Market Contracts

The Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act marked the Senate’s first bipartisan bill seeking to regulate prediction markets

“It ought to be up to the states to decide what kind of gambling goes on within their state. This kind of end run around the law is encouraging vast amounts of gambling. We saw $1 billion of trading in prediction contracts just over the Super Bowl alone. That’s something that ought to be decided state by state and not decided for them by this industry,” said Senator Schiff.

Washington D.C. – In case you missed it, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) introduced the Senate’s first bipartisan bill seeking to regulate prediction markets by prohibiting Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered entities from listing prediction contracts that resemble a sports bet or casino-style game. The legislation would reinforce Congress’ original intent that the Commodity Exchange Act does not permit sports gambling and removes any ambiguity in the statute.

Background:

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Schiff has raised the alarm about the current lack of federal regulation in this industry. Schiff led more than 20 Senators urging the CFTC to abstain from intervening in ongoing litigation, as Chairman Selig pledged to do in his confirmation hearing. He has also raised the alarm on the dangers of “death contracts,” such as whether Artemis II would explode or whether Iran’s Ali Khameni would be “out as Supreme Leader.”

He wrote to the CFTC along with other Senators on the need for the CFTC to vigorously enforce a prohibition on these “death contracts.” He subsequently introduced the DEATH BETS Act, legislation that would remove any regulatory discretion that the CFTC has to permit these “death contracts,” explicitly and categorically prohibiting any CFTC registered entity from listing contracts on terrorism, assassination, war, or an individual’s death. Last week, Sen. Schiff also joined Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and John Curtis (R-Utah) to introduce legislation to prohibit federally elected officials and government employees from using insider information to bet on a prediction market contract.

See coverage below:

Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Bill Banning Sports Bets on Prediction Markets

A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators are introducing legislation Monday to prohibit entities regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including prediction-market exchanges Kalshi and Polymarket’s U.S. platform, from listing contracts related to sporting events.

“The CFTC is greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) said. “It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor, which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty and offers no public revenue.”

The legislation is the first bipartisan Senate bill seeking to regulate prediction markets. The bill also seeks to prohibit “casino-style games” from being listed on the platforms, such as slot machine games, video poker, blackjack and bingo.

“Too many young people in Utah are getting exposed to addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong under state control, not under federal regulators,” said Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah), the proposed bill’s co-sponsor.

While Kalshi and Polymarket offer yes-or-no wagers tied to everything from politics to the weather to pop culture, much of the trading activity is focused on professional and college sports, putting the platforms in competition with betting sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings.

“Banning sports on regulated prediction markets would just push this behavior offshore, where no regulation exists,” said Elisabeth Diana, a Kalshi spokeswoman. “It’s clear this bill is motivated by casino interests that are threatened by competition.”

Polymarket and the CFTC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

DraftKings stock rose 7.2% in premarket trading early Monday morning. Shares of Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, gained 9.4%.

Lawmakers, states and federal regulators have sparred in recent months over how event contracts on prediction-market platforms, including on sports, should be regulated, and by whom.

The CFTC has argued that the states have no regulatory control over prediction-market platforms, with the commission in February filing a “friend of the court” brief in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that it had exclusive jurisdiction over the commodities-derivatives market, including event contracts.

Nevada, the country’s gambling capital, on Friday won a temporary restraining order to prevent prediction-market platform Kalshi from offering event-based contracts related to sports, elections and entertainment.

Just a few days earlier, Arizona filed criminal charges against the parent companies of Kalshi, accusing them of operating an illegal gambling business without a license. Kalshi sent a letter to Arizona’s attorney general imploring that the state withdraw the charges.

While most U.S. professional sports leagues have embraced sports gambling, which is legal in most states, some have been more wary of prediction markets and their ability to identify suspicious activity that could subject their games to manipulation and insider information.

Major League Baseball, the professional league still reckoning with its biggest betting scandal in decades, recently signed a licensing deal with Polymarket, which as the league’s official prediction-markets platform will have exclusive access to its data and iconography. Polymarket also agreed to work with MLB to police baseball wagers on its platform.

States including Massachusetts and Michigan have sued Kalshi, arguing that the nascent and fast-growing industry offers illegal sports betting. Polymarket filed a lawsuit against Michigan in early March in a bid to prevent the state from enforcing its state gambling laws against the platform.

Kalshi in recent months has sued states including Arizona, Iowa and Utah to stop what it believed were impending bans. The company said its event contracts were regulated by federal jurisdiction, rather than the states.

New York Times: Kalshi, Polymarket move to stop insider trading as bill seeks to ban sports prediction markets

After two United States senators introduced a bipartisan bill on Monday aimed at banning sports futures on prediction markets, Kalshi and Polymarket, the two leading companies in the field, announced new measures to guard against insider trading on their platforms.

Senators Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, and John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, introduced the “Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act,” which, if passed and enacted, would prevent “Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered entities from listing any prediction contract that resembles a sports bet or casino-style game.” Traders can currently buy and sell contracts, based on predictions via markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, even in states that have not legalized sports betting. Those states include major markets such as Texas and Schiff’s home state.

Prediction contracts differ from traditional sports bets in that traders are not putting their money up against “the house” as betters would with a sportsbook that sets the odds for a specific outcome. The value of prediction contracts is determined by traders. Correct predictions will cash out, but traders can also sell their contracts for a profit, like a stock.

While not directly responding to the bill’s assertion that prediction markets are gambling and should be regulated as such, Kalshi and Polymarket said they will toughen and clarify guardrails against insider trading. In a statement, Kalshi said it was “launching new technological guardrails that preemptively block politicians, athletes, and other relevant people from trading in certain politics and sports markets.” Polymarket announced that it had updated and clarified its rules around insider trading and market manipulation.

These prediction markets are federally regulated like financial exchanges, which means they can operate in all 50 states. Traditional sports bets are not federally regulated and are only legal in 39 states, as well as in Washington, D.C.

Schiff called prediction contracts sports betting with a different name.

“And yet, these contracts have been offered in all 50 states in clear violation of state and federal law,” Schiff said in a statement. “Rather than enforce the law, the CFTC is greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth. It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor, which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty, and offers no public revenue.”

Said Curtis: “Our bipartisan legislation clarifies regulatory jurisdiction, ensuring that states can maintain their authority over sports betting and casino gaming. The Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act is about respecting states’ authority, protecting families, and keeping speculative financial products out of spaces where they don’t belong.”

Kalshi said politicians have already been banned from trading on their own campaigns, and athletes have been banned from trading on their own performances, adding that it instituted screening systems to preemptively stop such acts from happening. Kalshi also announced that it was “adding a whistleblower functionality straight in our market page, which makes it easier for our community to flag potential violations as they go through our public trading data.”

Polymarket updated its terms of use, focused on trading based on stolen confidential information, illegal tips or by those who can influence the outcome.

“These new integrity rules and pages simply articulate what we’ve always believed and enforced,” Polymarket CEO Neal Kumar said in a social media post. “Now it’s all in plain view.”

Polymarket also launched “Market Integrity” pages, which offer ways for users to report suspicious activity.

Prediction markets have been on the rise under President Donald Trump’s administration, with some sportsbooks launching their own in recent months. The Biden administration had banned Polymarket from operating in the U.S.

Other politicians have been critical of prediction markets.

Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, said they “should not be able to circumvent state gaming laws.”

This isn’t the first legislation aimed at regulating prediction markets. Schiff earlier this month introduced the “DEATH BETS Act,” which would prohibit any CFTC-registered entity from listing contracts on terrorism, assassination, war or an individual’s death.

That bill was introduced after markets like Kalshi allowed users to trade on events like whether Iran’s Ali Khamenei would be “out as Supreme Leader.” Kalshi had $54 million in trading volume before it was paused, according to Schiff’s office.

NBC News: Senators introduce bipartisan bill to ban sports betting on prediction markets

A new bill introduced in the Senate Monday would ban prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket from accepting or listing transactions related to sports events and casino-style games.

The bill, co-sponsored by Senator Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and John Curtis, R-Utah, is the first bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate targeting the rise of sports betting on services like Polymarket and Kalshi. While traditional sports gambling is regulated by states, prediction markets utilize a different technical trading mechanism, via futures or commodity contracts, that fall under federal oversight.

“Sports prediction contracts are sports bets — just with a different name,” said Sen. Schiff in a statement announcing the bill’s introduction. “These contracts are currently offered in all fifty states in clear violation of state and federal law.”

“It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty, and offers no public revenue,” Schiff said.

Created in 1974, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has the exclusive right under the federal Commodity Exchange Act to regulate futures, options, and swaps for registered commodities entities. Several prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket, have registered with the CFTC as a type of derivative exchange called a designated contract market.

The new bill would ban any entity registered with the CFTC from listing or making available any “agreement, contract, or transaction relating to any sporting event or athletic competition,” in addition to banning similar contracts for any casino-style game like poker or blackjack.

“Too many young people in Utah are getting exposed to addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong under state control, not under federal regulators,” Sen. Curtis said in a statement. “The Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act is about respecting states’ authority, protecting families, and keeping speculative financial products out of spaces where they don’t belong.”

Prediction markets have soared in popularity over the past year in the United States, seeing over $1.2 billion in total trading during this year’s Super Bowl Sunday, with trading volumes for the entire week soaring past $4.5 billion.

The prediction market companies are hot commodities themselves. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing several unnamed sources, that Kalshi had secured a $22 billion valuation in its latest round of venture capital funding, while rival Polymarket is reportedly hoping to attain a similar valuation.

Both services have been jockeying for users’ attention and wallets, opening free grocery stores and trading-themed bars to lure in potential clients.

However, the services have also attracted mounting scrutiny over insider trading allegations in sports and other arenas. Leading AI company OpenAI fired an employee over allegations the individual had placed bets on Polymarket tied to advance knowledge of the company’s product announcements, while bets on the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei highlighted the use of prediction markets in war and raised questions about national security risks.

On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced a new partnership with Polymarket and the CFTC “to create clear boundaries with the goal of mitigating risk while providing fan engagement opportunities.”

CNBC: Prediction markets’ new insider trading restrictions aren’t enough, bipartisan senators say (Full interview)

A pair of bipartisan senators on Wednesday said they won’t drop their push to ban sports prediction market contracts, despite Kalshi and Polymarket announcing new insider trading restrictions on their platforms.

“It’s got to be more than an aspirational statement by these companies,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about those platforms’ self-imposed new rules.

Kalshi on Monday said it would preemptively block politicians, athletes and “other relevant people” from betting on their own campaigns or sporting events.

The same day, Polymarket announced it would impose its own guardrails to address insider trading and market manipulation.

The new restrictions came as Schiff and Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, introduced legislation that would give states, rather than federal regulators, control over sports betting and casino-style games.

The bill would prohibit Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered entities from listing any such prediction contract.

In a joint CNBC interview Wednesday morning, the senators said the companies’ efforts to police themselves are insufficient.

“I don’t think it’s enough,” Schiff said. “It’s one thing to say, ‘This is our policy.’ It’s another actually to put into place the steps to make sure it’s not happening on those platforms.”

Curtis has said his bill with Schiff, the Prediction Markets are Gambling Act, is about “keeping speculative financial products out of spaces where they don’t belong.”

“You have to ask, ‘What could go wrong?’” he said on CNBC. “Imagine betting on a high school athlete getting hurt the day of a high school game … You can see how wrong that could go.”

Kalshi criticized the bill, saying in a statement to CNBC that banning sports on prediction markets would “just push this behavior offshore, where no regulation exists.”

“It’s clear this bill is motivated by casino interests that are threatened by competition. They’re more worried about protecting their monopolies than protecting consumers,” Kalshi said Wednesday. “We should let competition run its course instead of protecting monopolies.”

Schiff warned about the potential for “vast amounts of insider trading” that can’t be addressed under current regulations. He pointed to recent reports that some bettors have amassed significant sums predicting events in the Iran war with extremely high accuracy.

“That’s heavily suggestive of insider trading, and when it could be done using blockchain, there is no way to really regulate that, at least it’s not being regulated today,” he said.

Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana told CNBC in an email that the restrictions announced Monday “go beyond what the stock market does.”

“We also have a track record of policing insider trading,” she said, pointing to Kalshi’s enforcement of its existing insider-trading rules after an employee of YouTube star MrBeast was found to have traded on the outcomes of the celebrity’s videos.

“That’s not aspirational, that’s the system at work,” Diana said.

The spokeswoman also noted that the Iran war bets referenced by Schiff occurred on Polymarket, not Kalshi. “We believe that regulated, federal oversight of prediction markets is better than a patchwork of inconsistent state laws,” she said.

Polymarket did not respond to a request for comment.

Prediction markets, which allow users to quickly and easily wager on nearly anything, have become vastly more popular and accessible in recent years. That popularity is leading to increasing criticism across the political spectrum.

“Pervasive gambling is not good for society,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said last week in response to Polymarket being made the exclusive prediction market exchange partner for Major League Baseball.

At the same time, the financial impacts of widespread betting are coming under increased scrutiny. Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a report Wednesday morning that sports betting “can have dramatic implications for household financial stability.”

“Even though the share of people taking up sports betting after legalization is small (roughly 3 percent of the population), overall credit delinquency rises by about 0.3 percentage points,” the Fed researchers said.

While any legislation faces a difficult path in Congress, Schiff and Curtis expressed optimism that their bill has enough bipartisan support to clear the House and Senate.

“I think this is one of those areas where we agree on so much more than we disagree, and I think those areas of disagreement are getting narrower and narrower,” Curtis said.

NBC Sports: Bipartisan bill would ban prediction markets for sporting events

The Wild West of legalized sports wagering has been complicated by the rise of prediction markets, which have crept into the sports betting turf.

A new Congressional bill — bipartisan, amazingly — would keep prediction markets out of sports.

Via Krystal Hur of the Wall Street Journal, Senators Adam Schiff (D-Cal.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) will introduce on Monday legislation that would “prohibit entities regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including prediction-market exchanges Kalshi and Polymarket’s U.S. platform, from listing contracts related to sporting events.”

The bill would also prohibit “casino-style games” from appearing on prediction-market platforms.

“Too many young people in Utah are getting exposed to addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong under state control, not under federal regulators,” Curtis said.

It comes at a time when the CFTC and the various states are grappling over the potential regulation of prediction markets. Last week, Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi for operating an illegal gambling business. On Friday, Nevada secured a temporary restraining order against Kalshi, preventing it from offering “event-based contracts” regarding “sports, elections and entertainment.”

The current sports betting industry emerged from a successful attack on federal legislation that prevented states (other than Nevada) from legalizing gambling. In May 2018, the Supreme Court found that the states have the right to allow gambling, if they choose.

Major League Baseball announced on Thursday a deal with Polymarket. Obviously, that arrangement becomes far less valuable, or relevant, if the proposed legislation becomes law.

It’s shaping up to be a big-money battle between the Coke-and-Pepsi companies that dominate sports betting (DraftKings and FanDuel) and prediction markets (Kalshi and Polymarket). Which makes sense, because the whole thing is about money.

Specifically, it’s about coming up with ways to take as much of it as possible from people who delude themselves into thinking that they can make easy money against companies whose billions come from the simple fact that most people lose.

ESPN: Bill introduced seeks to ban sports bets on prediction markets

A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Monday seeks to ban prediction markets from allowing transactions that mimic sports betting. The bill’s Republican and Democrat sponsors said they want federal law regarding prediction markets to clearly delineate which regulatory powers belong to states as opposed to the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The new bill adds to growing efforts at the state level to clamp down on prediction markets. Last week, a Nevada judge temporarily blocked industry leader Kalshi from offering sports-related event contracts, while state prosecutors in Arizona filed illegal-gambling criminal charges against the company.

The Trump administration has defended prediction market companies, which argue that their products are similar to trading stocks or commodities, putting them under CFTC jurisdiction. Chairman Mike Selig has repeatedly defended the CFTC’s sole regulatory authority over prediction markets.

The new legislation, dubbed “The Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act,” is sponsored by Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Adam Schiff, D-California. It would amend federal law so that “sports and casino-style event contracts” may not be offered on platforms regulated by the commission.

Tarek Mansour, Kalshi’s co-founder, reacted to the legislation on social media platform X, writing that it was the “casino lobby hard at work. … Banning just pushes this offshore, where no regulation exists. This bill isn’t about protecting consumers; it’s about protecting monopolies.”

Mansour, among others, describes contracts offered on prediction markets as commodity market swaps, which only the federal government may regulate. But several states are challenging that premise in court, arguing that this is a form of gambling and, therefore, subject to state regulation.

On March 16, Arizona became the first state to bring criminal charges against Kalshi. State prosecutors filed a 20-count complaint in Maricopa County accusing Kalshi of accepting illegal bets on sports and elections in violation of state laws.

On Friday, a Nevada district court granted state gaming regulators a 14-day temporary restraining order against Kalshi. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 3.

A class action complaint filed on March 20 in Georgia named Kalshi and its co-founders, Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, as defendants, claiming that they listed sports event contracts in “bad faith with full knowledge of these illegalities.”

Despite the regulatory battle, business is booming for prediction markets. Last week, Major League Baseball announced a partnership with Polymarket and signed an information-sharing agreement with the CFTC. Reportedly, Kalshi has also raised $1 billion in new financing.

Kalshi on Monday announced new guardrails targeting insider trading and market manipulation on its platform. The company said it will preemptively ban athletes, employees and referees involved in college and professional sports from trading in certain markets.

Polymarket also instituted its own set of bans and rules. The company rewrote its rules to say clearly that users cannot trade on contracts where they might possess confidential information or could influence the outcome of an event. This would include athletes but could also include company officials, policymakers or anyone who would have enough influence to affect the outcome of an event or know the information in advance.

Sacramento Bee: CA Sen. Schiff pushes bill to ban sports betting on online prediction markets

California Sen. Adam Schiff is spearheading a bipartisan effort to prohibit prediction markets from allowing sports betting.

The legislation, introduced Monday, seeks to stop the federally regulated platforms from allowing wagers that resemble a sports bet or casino-style game. These platforms, or online prediction markets, have surged in the past year. They offer yes or no wagers tied to sports, politics and pop culture.

Schiff, who proposed the bill alongside Sen. John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, called these sports prediction contracts merely sports bets “with a different name.”

“And yet, these contracts have been offered in all fifty states in clear violation of state and federal law,” Schiffsaid in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty, and offers no public revenue.”

The bill comes as states are trying to grapple with the explosion of prediction markets, like Polymarket and Kalshi. The markets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, whichSchiff said is “greenlighting” and promoting their growth.

Last week, a judge in Nevada dealt a temporary ban to Kalshi for certain event-based bets. The state of Arizona also filed criminal charges earlier in the month against Kalshi, accusing it of operating an illegal gambling business.

Last week, Major League Baseball announced a multi-year deal with Polymarket to make it the league’s official and exclusive prediction market exchange partner.

The Guardian: Bipartisan Senate bill would ban sports betting on online prediction markets

Prediction markets are facing fresh bipartisan scrutiny in the US Senate as companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket continue to battle state-led efforts to regulate online betting.

A bill was introduced in the US Senate on Monday that would ban federally regulated platforms from allowing wagers on sporting events, what would be a huge blow to marketplaces where billions of dollars have been traded on major events like the Super Bowl and the NCAA’s March Madness.

The bill follows several other state-level efforts to regulate marketplaces, which are overseen by a federal agency. On Friday, a Nevada judge temporarily banned most of Kalshi’s operations in the state for two weeks after the state filed a lawsuit against the company.

Online prediction markets are currently regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under the Trump administration, the agency has argued it has exclusive regulatory control over the companies.

Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator from California who introduced the bill with John Curtis, a Republican senator from Utah, said in a statement that the CFTC is “greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth”.

“Sports prediction contracts are sports bets – just with a different name.” Schiffsaid in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty and offers no public revenue.”

The bill also bans casino-style games such as virtual poker, slot machines and blackjack from being available on the platforms. Curtis said in a statement that “addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts” belong “under state control, not under federal regulators”.

In response to the bill, Kalshi said in a statement: “Banning sports on regulated prediction markets would just push this behavior offshore, where no regulation exists.”

“It’s clear this bill is motivated by casino interests that are threatened by competition. They’re more worried about protecting their monopolies than protecting consumers,” the company said. “Sports trading on regulated prediction markets offer a fairer choice to consumers, with no house that restricts winners and hooks people the more they lose.”

Polymarket and the CFTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sports betting was largely illegal in the US until 2018, when the supreme court struck down a 1992 federal law banning commercial sports betting in most states. Since the ruling, newer prediction markets that have fewer age limits and events restrictions are gathering steam and seeing hundreds of millions of dollars in trading volume each week.

These platforms allow users to bet on any event, from Oscar winners to ongoing military conflicts. Polymarket has also started to deem itself a source of news, though a New York Times analysis found that the company has posted hundreds of false and misleading posts on its social media feeds.

Much of the regulatory pushback has been from the states. Last week, Arizona’s attorney general filed criminal charges against Kalshi, accusing the site of election wagering and running an illegal gambling business without a license.

“Kalshi may brand itself as a ‘prediction market,’ but what it’s actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation and taking bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law,” said Kris Mayes, Arizona’s attorney general. “No company gets to decide for itself which laws to follow.”

Nevada last month sued Kalshi arguing that the company needs to be licensed in the state for wagering activity. On Friday, a Nevada judge dealt the state a brief win with a temporary restraining order that bans the company from operating in the state until its next hearing on 3 April. The judge said Kalshi cannot offer event-based contracts related to sports, elections and entertainment and prohibited users under 21 years old from using its platform.

“Prediction markets, to the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada, and we have a statutory duty to protect the public. We want people in the state to wager safely at a licensed book,” said Mike Dreitzer, chair of the Nevada gaming control board, in a statement.

The Hill: New bill targets sports prediction markets: What are they, and why could some be banned?

(NEXSTAR) – As sports betting continues to grow in the U.S., one large aspect of the industry could take a hit under a new bipartisan bill.

Introduced by Sens. Adam Schiff(D-Calif.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) on Monday, the “Prediction Markets are Gambling Act,” bill would target a single aspect of the broad gambling option.

The concern, according to the lawmakers behind the legislation, is that these prediction markets are bypassing state and federal laws to offer illegal wagering.

Here’s what to know.

What are prediction markets?

Prediction markets are almost exactly what they sound like.

Users are able to make bets on nearly anything. Kalshi, one of the largest prediction market platforms, allowed bets on the references President Trump would make during his State of the Union last month, for example.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Kalshi’s live markets include various sporting events, as well as what the price of Brent crude oil would be at 5 p.m. ET, the outcome of a special election in Florida, when DHS funding will be approved, and Los Angeles’ highest temperature of the day.

You can find similar offerings on the platform Polymarket, including markets regarding whether the U.S. confirms aliens exist, if Jesus will return before 2027, and how frequently Elon Musk posts to X this week.

The markets are simple to wager on. In most cases, you’re picking a winning team or between “yes” and “no” outcomes, which are known as contracts. You determine how much you want to wager, with the price usually based on the anticipated probability from the market (they typically range up to 99 cents, representing the projected outcome in percentage). The payout can vary based on the contract type, but the most common is winner-take-all.

Both Kalshi and Polymarket have signed business deals with several sports teams and leagues in order to bolster their credibility with sports fans.

What would the Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act do?

Should the bill pass, entities like Kalshi and Polymarket that are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would be prevented from allowing wagers on sports games and events typically found in casinos, The Hill previously explained.

The prediction contracts available on these sites “are sports bets – just with a different name,” Schiff said in a statement.

However, prediction market platforms have argued they are more akin to commodity exchanges or “swaps” than gambling operations.

“If we are gambling, then I think you’re basically calling the entire financial market gambling,” Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour told Axios last year.

Some states have taken action

Several states have preemptively banned Kalshi and Polymarket, saying that the platforms effectively are a sports betting industry with a technological twist.

Earlier this month, a judge in Nevada blocked Kalshi from operating in the state after gaming regulators argued that “futures trading” by the company and others like it is really just sports betting. Those operations are subject to regulations in the state, while prediction markets remain illegal in Nevada, according to officials.

Days earlier, Arizona became the first state to file charges against Kalshi, with the attorney general accusing the company of operating an illegal gambling business, according to NPR.

In Utah, Governor Spencer Cox has signed legislation that would add wagers on “prop bets” – typically, things that may happen during a sporting event rather than its outcome – to its list of banned gambling activities. Kalshi sued the state over the bill before Cox signed it.

Judges have ruled in Kalshi’s favor in New Jersey and Tennessee, but in favor of Nevada and Massachusetts in similar cases. In Ohio, a federal judge recently instructed Kalshi to adhere to state regulations on gambling.

What else is there to know?

Kalshi and Polymarket have found backing from the Trump-controlled Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator of derivatives and other prediction markets activities. The CFTC’s chairman, Michael Selig, has said he would back Kalshi in any of its legal battles at the state level, arguing that federal law preempts any state law on this issue.

Any friendly decision the CFTC makes on this industry could end up financially benefiting the president’s family as well. President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., has invested in Polymarket through his venture capital firm and is a strategic adviser for Kalshi.

Kalshi and Polymarket instituted new guardrails and surveillance tools on Monday. Kalshi said it would ban political candidates from trading on their own campaigns, and it would preemptively block anyone involved in college or professional sports from trading contracts related to the sports they play or are employed by.

Polymarket rewrote its rules to say clearly that users cannot trade on contracts where they might possess confidential information or could influence the outcome of an event. This would include athletes but could also include company officials, policymakers or anyone who would have enough influence to affect the outcome of an event or know the information in advance.

HuffPost: Lawmakers Eye Bipartisan Crackdown On ‘Prediction Market’ Gambling

WASHINGTON — America’s big online gambling boom has finally caught Congress’ attention.

Republicans and Democrats have introduced multiple proposals, including several just this week, to outlaw “prediction market” betting on sports and also on world events.

The proliferation of online betting started with a 2018 Supreme Court decision striking down a federal law barring bets on professional sports. In the eight years since, the amount Americans bet on sports annually has exploded from $7 billion to $167 billion, according to the industry, while since last year prediction markets have expanded wagering from sports to elections and even wars.

Some members of Congress have seen enough. Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) introduced legislation on Monday targeting prediction markets for sports just days after Major League Baseball and Polymarket announced a gambling deal with full blessing from President Donald Trump’s administration.

“This is just spiraling out of control. And I think on a very bipartisan basis, there is a tremendous amount of concern about where this is heading, how easily it can be manipulated, how vast the expansion will be of gambling,” Schiff told HuffPost.

Prediction markets are still a small part of an industry that preys on addictive behavior, however, and lawmakers have shown little appetite for a direct attack on the betting companies that have taken over pro sports and already spawned shocking corruption scandals in the MLB and NBA.

The Schiff-Curtis bill follows similar legislation introduced last week by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) to ban wagering on events where someone knows or controls the outcome. The bill was inspired partly by suspicious bets on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket that seemed to anticipate U.S. actions in the Iran war. Another piece of bipartisan legislation, introduced Tuesday in the House, would restrict federal government officials from participating in prediction markets.

“There’s just been instance after instance where people in my community and folks all throughout this building go, ‘Isn’t that already illegal? Like, How is this even possible?’” Casar told HuffPost.

Under Trump, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a financial regulator that oversees derivatives markets, has allowed companies like Kalshi to circumvent state sports gambling restrictions by selling prediction market “event contracts” that pay out based on opposing wagers for a given outcome — such as who wins a sports game or whether Iran’s supreme leader is ousted by a certain day.

A spokesperson for Kalshi said the company was fine with legislation banning government officials from trading markets, but it opposes the Schiff-Curtis proposal.

“It’s clear this bill is motivated by casino interests that are threatened by competition,” the Kalshi spokesperson said in an email. “They’re more worried about protecting their monopolies than protecting consumers.”

It’s true that the bills restricting prediction markets would benefit the incumbent gambling industry. Steven Light, a gambling law expert and visiting professor at the University of Nevada law school, listed five potential winners of a Kalshi crackdown: casinos, state-regulated betting platforms like DraftKings or FanDuel, Native tribes that allow gaming, revenue-losing state governments, and scandal-plagued sports leagues.

“Major league sports and the NCAA are struggling to contain these sports wagering scandals, to figure out how to deal with game and player and even student-athlete integrity and betting on your own performance and that kind of thing,” Light said, adding that the novel prediction markets compound existing problems presented by state-regulated gambling.

The Trump CFTC’s interpretation of the Commodities Exchange Act, in which the agency has awarded itself control of sports event contracts indistinguishable from regular gambling, strays wildly from what lawmakers intended when they last updated the law in 2010. It’s triggered a wave of lawsuits and explains why members of Congress are so willing to write bills. The agency has essentially taken away the power states won from the 2018 Supreme Court decision to regulate sports betting.

“That whole business is a major affront to my state,” said Curtis, who hails from Mormon-dominated Utah, where the state Constitution prohibits all forms of gambling. “It’s a core Utah value. And so clearly, I’m very concerned if they try to take that regulating ability away.”

Another Utah Republican, Rep. Blake Moore, cosponsored a bipartisan bill earlier this month to disallow prediction markets in sports, wars, assassinations and terrorist attacks.

So far, lawmakers seem unwilling to seize the moment to go after regular, state-sanctioned sports gambling. A bill by Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), to curb gambling advertisements, limit customer deposits and disallow “bonus bets,” has zero co-sponsors. Tonko told HuffPost he hopes the interest in prediction markets will lead to more interest in the underlying issue.

“I think it’s a public health crisis that needs to be addressed,” Tonko said. “The targeting of young people who are most vulnerable to bet on these sports teams and sports events has grown expeditiously over that short period of time. It’s not even a decade, you know, and already we’ve seen consequential damage.”

As the Public Health Advocacy Institute noted in a lawsuit this week against the major online sports gambling companies, the American Psychiatric Association in its diagnostic manual lists “gambling disorder” in the same category as addiction to heroin, cocaine and tobacco. One recent study found consumer finances worsened in states that rolled out legalized sports gambling since 2018.

There may be more legislation on the horizon. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in December he was working on a bill to clamp down on prop betting during games. He told HuffPost this week the bill’s not ready yet.

Despite the bipartisan interest in curbing prediction markets, it’s not clear how soon Congress could act. The various bills aren’t getting votes or even hearings anytime soon. Lawmakers still haven’t even gotten around to curbing Big Tech’s use of addictive algorithms to hook children on social media, despite an array of popular bipartisan proposals. But the day could come, and the companies involved are clearly on notice — Kalshi and Polymarket said this week, amid the flurry of new proposals, that they would take steps to curb insider trading.

“People are still really wrapping their heads around how omnipresent this is in American life,” Schiff said. “This is all being done, really, without any thought, and by virtue of a not even a workaround — an end run around the law by calling sports betting something else, calling it a prediction event contract instead. That’s just completely unacceptable, and Congress really needs to act.”

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