Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Caroline D. Pham on Request for Authority to Appeal from Court Order in Kalshi Matter

"From a procedural standpoint, the Commission has once again taken a 'ready, shoot, aim' approach to the Commission's deliberations. I respectfully dissent because the Commission has been asked to grant a blank-check authorization to appeal from the U.S. District Court's order without sufficient information. To be clear, I do not have an issue with the CFTC potentially exercising our right to appeal. Rather, I continue to be concerned that the Commission is constantly rushed to vote before thinking it through. As I've said before, bad process begets bad outcomes.

"If the Commission stated to the Court that it was unable to make an informed decision whether to appeal without the Court's opinion, how was the Commission all of a sudden able to decide on Monday to authorize an appeal? The Commission's actions do not match up with our words.[1]

"Moreover, such a vote by the Commission was premature and should not have gone forward yet because the CFTC was, in fact, granted a 3-day administrative stay by the Court and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 12. The Commission should see what happens first and respect the legal process before it takes a knee-jerk reaction to delegate its authority without all the facts."