Case 3:25-cv-02016-VDO Document 56-1 Filed 01/16/26 Page 13 of 29
intended to completely override the entire purpose and function of IGRA, which is to recognize tribal sovereignty to conduct and regulate gaming activity that occurs on Indian lands. See 25 U.S.C. § 2701(5). No amount of judicial gymnastics can turn the insertion of the term “swap” in the CEA into such a radical transformation of IGRA. This Court should therefore reject Kalshi’s boundless interpretation of a “swap” and give effect to both statutes by excluding sports-betting contracts, such as Kalshi’s, from the CEA’s definition of “swap.” Such an interpretation, in any case, is more faithful to the CEA’s statutory language and legislative intent. See 156 Cong. Rec. S5907 (daily ed. July 15, 2010) (statement of Sen. Lincoln) (“It would be quite easy to construct an ‘event contract’ around sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and Masters Golf Tournament. These types of contracts would not serve any real commercial purpose. Rather, they would be used solely for gambling.”). D. Kalshi’s Theory Does Not Meet the Standard for Implied Repeals. Kalshi’s preemption argument, which relies on its overly broad interpretation of “swap,” must be rejected because it would manufacture an implied repeal of IGRA where none exists. Kalshi cannot meet the heavy burden of proving Congress intended to repeal IGRA because there is a reasonable interpretation of the CEA that gives full effect to both statutes: the CEA’s definition of “swap”—and thus the CFTC’s jurisdiction over such transactions—simply does not extend to Kalshi’s sports bets. Both the Supreme Court and Second Circuit apply the “strong presumption that repeals by implication are disfavored and that Congress will specifically address preexisting law when it wishes to suspend its normal operations in a later statute.” Epic Sys. Corp. v. Lewis , 584 U.S. 497, 510 (2018) (internal quotations omitted); Garfield v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC , 811 F.3d 86, 89 (2d Cir. 2016) (“When it is claimed that a later enacted statute creates an irreconcilable
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