September 2012

Earlier today, a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a constitutional challenge to the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (“FECA”) biennial aggregate contribution limits in McCutcheon v. FEC, No. 12-cv-1034 (D.D.C. Sept. 28, 2012).  Under FECA, an individual may contribute no more than…
Continue Reading Court Upholds Aggregate Federal Contribution Limits

Immediately after being sworn into office in 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13490, which barred federal lobbyists from service in his administration (on issues or in agencies they had formerly lobbied).  Then, in September 2009, the White House announced that it was encouraging federal agencies to follow this…
Continue Reading Court Upholds Ban on Lobbyists Serving on Advisory Committees

Personal relationships between lobbyists and government employees can be tricky — especially in Washington where many people work for the government.  Lobbyists face many odd questions when managing their personal relationships with government employees.  Can you invite old friends to your company suite at Nationals Stadium?  Can you bring a…
Continue Reading Fifty Shades of Lobbying

The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia today announced two new civil enforcement actions against lobbying firms for failure to file required federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) reports.  Two Virginia-based lobbying firms entered into civil settlement agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  One firm — Lussier, Gregor, Vienna…
Continue Reading DOJ Announces Two New Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforcement Actions

In a floor statement yesterday, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, blasted the IRS for allowing 501(c)(4) organizations to “exploit” the tax code and spend millions on political campaign activity.  In connection with his statement, the…
Continue Reading IRS to Senator Levin: IRS Conducting Over 70 Audits of 501(c)(4) Organizations

The Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section (“PIN”) is out with its annual report to Congress for 2011.  PIN has oversight responsibility for the prosecution of criminal laws related to the abuse of public trust by government officials, including federal campaign finance laws.  It handles cases directly and also serves…
Continue Reading U.S. DOJ’s Public Integrity Section Issues New Annual Report

After a hiatus, ads that refer to federal candidates but that stop short of calling for their election or defeat may soon be returning to the airwaves.  Only two business days after oral argument, a three-judge D.C. Circuit panel today unanimously reversed a lower court decision that required issue advocacy…
Continue Reading Reversing Van Hollen, D.C. Circuit Removes Important Legal Barrier To Television and Radio Political Ads

In a letter published today, Representative David Camp, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, and Senator Orrin Hatch, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, have told New York’s Attorney General that they are “particularly concerned by reports that indicate your office has not followed the federally…
Continue Reading Two Prominent Republican Members of Congress Challenge New York AG’s Inquiries

The final fundraising push of 2012 is on and politically active individuals with substantial net worth need to be particularly careful to comply with the overall aggregate contribution limits, as well as with the sub-limits on giving to federal candidates, party committees and PACs.  On Friday, Reuters had a …
Continue Reading The Press Begins to Scrutinize Donor Compliance with Federal Contribution Limits

Late yesterday afternoon, a federal judge temporarily enjoined enforcement of the STOCK Act against executive-branch employees.

 The STOCK Act, originally enacted to prohibit insider trading by members of Congress, also requires that members of Congress, their staffs, and senior executive branch employees promptly disclose any personal transactions involving securities. …
Continue Reading Court Halts Enforcement of STOCK Act Against Executive-Branch Employees