Feds Take Louisiana to Court Over Order Shutting Down Prediction Markets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice filed suit against Louisiana in US District Court on November 13, 2026. They want a federal judge to invalidate a state restraining order against event-contract platforms, and to confirm that the products sit under federal oversight through the Commodity Exchange Act, which governs US derivatives markets. It is the twelfth state the CFTC has taken to court over these contracts.

The state moved first. On November 12, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed suit in state court against roughly 30 entities and secured a temporary restraining order the same day. That order stops those companies from offering event contracts to Louisiana residents unless they hold the gambling licenses the state demands. Event contracts let traders buy positions that pay out based on whether a real-world outcome occurs, such as a team winning or a candidate taking an election.

The defendant list runs deep into the sector: KalshiEX LLC, Polymarket US, Robinhood Markets and Coinbase entities are all named. Louisiana's action flipped the posture from defense to offense, with the state going to its own courts instead of waiting on the companies' pending cases.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig didn't mince words. He called the state's move an attack dressed up as enforcement, describing it as “naked lawfare and a cynical political stunt,” and said event contracts have traded legally in Louisiana for years under CFTC rules. Murrill fired back on Saturday, rejecting his account and swiping at his ties to the industry. “Flatly false statements by the ‘obsequious standard bearer’ for Kalshi and prediction markets,” she said, grounding Louisiana's authority in the states' long history of regulating gambling.

This isn't the first courtroom front. In October 2026, Kalshi and Polymarket US each filed separate federal lawsuits against Louisiana officials, both arguing federal preemption — the principle that the Commodity Exchange Act overrides conflicting state gambling statutes when Congress has claimed the field.

A federal motion hearing is set for November 17, with a related state court hearing scheduled for November 30. With Coinbase entities and Polymarket US on the defendant list, the outcome stretches past standalone prediction platforms into crypto firms that have pushed into event contracts, while Robinhood's inclusion shows how far the product has reached into mainstream retail brokerage.