Prediction-market operator Kalshi has hired Stephanie Cutter, a former Obama administration official and co-founder of communications firm Precision Strategies, as a policy adviser. Kalshi said Cutter’s role is intended to strengthen the company’s connections in Washington and beyond; CEO Tarek Mansour noted her government and political experience will help the firm reach key decision-makers.
The move comes as Kalshi faces heightened regulatory and legal pressure. In January 2025 the company added Donald Trump Jr. as a strategic adviser, and regulators at the state level have since filed lawsuits accusing prediction-market event contracts of amounting to illegal wagers.
At the federal level, Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Michael Selig has asserted the CFTC’s “exclusive jurisdiction” over such markets and initiated legal action against state regulators. Meanwhile, some Democrats in Congress have called for greater oversight after flagging what they describe as suspicious trades related to the U.S. invasion of Iran.
Responding to those concerns, Kalshi and rival Polymarket announced in March that they would introduce new safeguards designed to curb insider trading and other problematic activity on their platforms.
Lawmakers have also proposed bills that, if enacted, could prohibit politicians from participating in prediction-market bets. As of Friday, none of those proposals had become law, and several state-level lawsuits against Kalshi remain unresolved.
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