The U.S. Supreme Court was overwhelmingly hostile to the Department of Justice Monday in a case about the scope of a public corruption statute, with most of the justices seemingly inclined to limit the law to classic cases of quid pro quo bribery.

In an appeal brought by a former Indiana mayor, the justices grilled DOJ attorney Colleen Sinzdak about the reach of her interpretation of the statute, Section 666 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. The law, which allows federal prosecutions of local public corruption, covers anyone who “corruptly” accepts money “intending to be influenced or rewarded” for government business.