There are few things as seductive in politics today as good data, and few things as challenging for commercial firms as the statutory bar on the use of FEC data for commercial purposes. That came to a head yesterday, when the FEC was unable to reach a decision on an advisory opinion request on use … Continue Reading
The Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) is offering a 90-minute online training session on Wednesday, April 7th, for campaign committees that use FECFile to file their disclosure reports. The purpose of this training is to address common filing problems and to provide answers to questions committees may have prior to their quarterly FEC filing. FEC staff … Continue Reading
For many of us, the New Year brings new resolutions, both professionally and personally. For those of us that are involved with Corporate PAC’s, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) makes it simple to quickly check one of these goals—to cultivate a better understanding of the FEC regulations that govern Corporate PACs—off our list. On March … Continue Reading
The Federal Election Commission has announced contribution limits for 2021-2022. The new “per election” limits are effective for the 2021-2022 election cycle (November 4, 2020 – November 8, 2022), and the calendar year limits are effective January 1, 2021. The FEC increased the amount an individual can contribute to a candidate to $2,900 per election, up from $2,800. … Continue Reading
Today Covington released an updated version of its manual for Chiefs of Staff to Members of Congress concerning best practices for responding to government investigations of Members and their staff. Titled “A How-To Guide for Chiefs of Staff,” the manual describes how government investigations of Members and staff unfold and the steps that Chiefs of … Continue Reading
With a full complement of six commissioners for the first time since early 2017, the FEC met in open session yesterday. Led by FEC Chair Shana M. Broussard and Vice Chair Allen Dickerson, the first meeting addressed a number of non-controversial matters that lent themselves to consensus. That said, there were several interesting features to … Continue Reading
With the swearing in of Shana M. Broussard, Sean J. Cooksey, and Allen Dickerson, the Federal Election Commission now has a full roster of six Commissioners for the first time since 2017. While the FEC briefly enjoyed a quorum with four Commissioners in May, since then it has lacked a sufficient number of Commissioners to … Continue Reading
Over the past 10 days, the FEC has been quietly exercising authority reserved for when at least four Commissioners vote in favor of an action. Since July 3, however, the FEC has only had three Commissioners. This activity raises consequential questions about the FEC’s ability to act without a quorum, and presents important concerns about … Continue Reading
Every four years, prosecutors at the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) train their sights on money spent to influence the outcome of the presidential election—and those who spend it. While the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has exclusive jurisdiction to penalize and enforce civil violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), 52 U.S.C. § 30101 et … Continue Reading
Tomorrow, the FEC will hold its first open meeting since last August, now that Commissioner James Trainor III has been sworn in. The agenda will consist of four reasonably routine matters, consisting of three advisory opinion requests and a request for comments on whether the Commission should begin a rulemaking. As of this morning, all … Continue Reading
In a 49-43 vote along party lines, the Senate confirmed Texas attorney James “Trey” Trainor to the Federal Election Commission today. This gives the FEC a quorum for the first time since August 31, 2019, when former Commissioner Matt Petersen stepped down to enter private practice. What effect will this have on the FEC and … Continue Reading
In a rare case, a so-called “dark money” group has now publicly released the names of its donors. Under federal law, if an organization has as its “major purpose” the nomination or election of federal candidates, the organization may be a “political committee” required to report its receipts and disbursements with the Federal Election Committee. … Continue Reading
The Federal Election Commission has announced contribution limits for 2019-2020. The new “per election” limits are effective for the 2019-2020 election cycle (November 7, 2018 – November 3, 2020), and the calendar year limits are effective January 1, 2019. The FEC increased the amount an individual can contribute to a candidate to $2,800 per election, up from $2,700. Because the … Continue Reading
On September 18, the Supreme Court left in place the district court decision in CREW v. FEC, a case that dramatically increased the disclosure obligations for nonprofits and other entities that spend money on public communications that encourage people to vote for or against specific candidates. We previously described the anticipated effects of the CREW … Continue Reading
In a startling turn of events that will alter election spending decisions in the run-up to the general election, and after, the Supreme Court reversed a temporary stay issued by Justice Roberts on Friday, and left in place a district court decision that dramatically increased the disclosure obligations for entities spending on public communications that … Continue Reading
After a surprisingly active 2017, the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement efforts have slowed noticeably in the early months of 2018. In February, former Commission Lee Goodman’s departure from the agency left the Commission with only four members. While the remaining Commissioners can still form a quorum, unanimity is required for all official agency action. Perhaps … Continue Reading
FEC audit reports often address obscure topics, but today one touched on an important issue for banks. At an open meeting, a majority of FEC Commissioners would not support a staff recommendation that a bank violated the campaign finance laws when it made a loan based on collateral that was commercially reasonable under the banking … Continue Reading
In a 2014 blog post about the Dinesh D’Souza case, we speculated that it might have been one of the first “straw donor” cases identified based on automated analysis of campaign finance disclosure reports. It’s not clear that was actually the case, though the Department of Justice did say at the time that “the indictment … Continue Reading
While the din over a possible government shutdown dominated the headlines, political law played a supporting role in the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. No. 115-141). The content and omissions of the so-called “Omnibus” spending bill will be of interest to political actors in all sectors, but particularly those operating nonprofit entities engaged … Continue Reading
As the 2018 mid-term season approaches, viewers may be seeing fewer issue advertisements paid for by so-called “dark money” groups. In a consequential decision, a federal court in Washington, D.C. concluded yesterday that all “electioneering communications” presumptively count as political spending for purposes of determining whether a group should register as a political action committee … Continue Reading
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) unanimously approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, beginning the formal process of amending the agency’s regulations on internet political disclaimers. The proposal and the Commissioners’ comments at the hearing reflect a fair amount of consensus on how to refashion rules that have been the source of significant disputes over the … Continue Reading
The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is considering a major change to the way trade associations are allowed to raise money into their political action committees (PACs). Currently, if a trade association wants to solicit money from its member companies’ employees, it must first get advance approval from the company, and each company can authorize … Continue Reading
Last summer there was much ado about the two parallel efforts of a “Dream Team” of attorneys to “end Super PACs.” Their goal was to get the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the D.C. Circuit in SpeechNow v. FEC, and similar decisions in other circuits, which led to the creation of Super PACs. … Continue Reading
Noting that we are at an “all hands on deck” moment for our democracy, FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub circulated to the Commission yesterday a document citing former Vice President Dick Cheney for the proposition that the United States is now at war with Russia, and that “[e]very part of our government that has jurisdiction over … Continue Reading
