Cortez Masto, Schiff, 21 Senate Democrats Demand CFTC Chair Reverse on Greenlighting Prediction Markets

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) led 21 Democratic Senators in urging Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig to abstain from intervening in pending litigation involving prediction markets and to maintain the Commission's prohibition on CFTC-registered platforms listing event contracts involving gaming, including betting on sports, terrorism, or assassinations.

On November 19, 2025, Chairman Selig testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee that he would not pre-judge whether sports event contracts were "gaming" and repeatedly stated that he would look to the courts. Instead, Selig has unilaterally proceeded with rulemaking and intervention in ongoing litigation. Last week, he posted that he 'strongly disagrees' that prediction markets violate the law, a stark reversal of prior statements before Congress.

"The real-world consequences are already evident. Prediction market platforms are offering contracts that mirror sportsbook wagers and, in some cases, contracts tied to war and armed conflict. These products evade state and tribal consumer protections, generate no public revenue, and undermine sovereign regulatory regimes," wrote the Senators.

"We therefore urge you to realign the Commission's actions with the statute and with the testimony you provided to Congress under oath. Declining to intervene on behalf of prediction market platforms and clarifying by rule that enumerated activities are contrary to the public interest would restore confidence that the CFTC is enforcing the law Congress enacted-not reshaping it through post-hoc policy shifts," continued the Senators.

Read the full letter here. This letter is signed by Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Senator Cortez Masto is a champion of Nevada's tourism and gaming economy. Following the passage of the Republican tax law, which imposed greater taxes on gamblers, Cortez Masto introduced the FULL HOUSE Act to restore the 100% tax deduction on gambling losses. Last September, she introduced the WAGER Act, bipartisan legislation to protect legal sportsbooks and gaming businesses and help states like Nevada and Tribal communities reinvest their gaming revenues into their local economies. Senator Cortez Masto had previously led her colleagues in reminding the CFTC of their responsibility to prevent illegal gaming and in requesting the CFTC do more to combat insider trading, manipulation, and fraud in prediction markets.

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