In recent decision pertaining to the Wire Act of 1961, a federal district court in New Hampshire ruled that the “the text, context, and structure” of the law limits its applicability to only sports betting and no other form of online gambling. As expected, this development was welcomed by various stakeholders in the rapidly expanding online gambling market in the United States.
Even so, there was some speculation that the United States Department of Justices which was responsible for the reinterpretation of the law, would not go down without a fight – many were expecting it to appeal the ruling. However, this seems to be out of the picture now since the Department has encountered an even bigger hurdle than the court ruling.
Congress has recently begun looking into the issue and has taken a stance that was rather unexpected, to say the least, especially for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. The legislative body has recently responded to a call to arms that will pit it against the DOJ and its recent bit do to expand the scope of the Wire Act that which was set to culminate in the suspension of gaming activities across a number of states.
To that effect, the legislative body’s Rules Committee has gone ahead to file an amendment that is set effectively cut off any and all funding for the enforcement of the new Wire Act opinion. Championed by Rep. Hank Johnson, the bid by the Rules Committee has already received significant backing from a number of legislators including Rep. Andy Barr and Rep. Sanford Bishop among others.
What the Amendment Entails
Now, Congress rarely holds back on its stance when it comes to various issues that catch its eye and the Department of Justice’s new opinion on the Wire Act is no different. The amendment is pretty straightforward and clearly outlines some requirements that the Department may have no other choice but to go along with.
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to enforce the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel memorandum entitled ‘Reconsidering Whether the Wire Act Applies to Non-Sports Gambling’ (issued on November 2, 2018),” reads the opening section of the document.
In essence, this means that the Department of Justice will not be getting any funding to enforce the act – the funding would be vital for the Department’s battle against the strong opposition from a number of states including New Jersey, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. The immense opposition to the Wire Act opinion aside, there is not much that the DOJ can do since the Rules Committee also happens to be the body responsible for paying the Department’s salaries and this, without a doubt, gives the committee an upper hand.
