Federal Election Commission
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | October 15, 1974 |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Status | Independent regulatory agency |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Employees | 339 (2006)[needs update] |
| Annual budget | $79,100,000 USD (FY 2017)[1] |
| Agency executives |
|
| Key document | |
| Website | www |
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections.[2] Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act,[3] the commission describes its duties as "to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections."
Contents
Membership[edit]
The Commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. Each member serves a six-year term, and two seats are subject to appointment every two years.[2] By law, no more than three Commissioners can be members of the same political party, and at least four votes are required for any official Commission action.
The chairmanship of the Commission rotates among the members each year, with no member serving as chairman more than once during a six-year term. However, a member may serve as chairman more than once by serving beyond the six-year mark if no successor is appointed; for example, Ellen Weintraub was chairman in both 2003 and 2013.[4]
Official duties[edit]
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The Commission's role is limited to the administration of federal campaign finance laws. It enforces limitations and prohibitions on contributions and expenditures, administers the reporting system for campaign finance disclosure, investigates and prosecutes violations (investigations are typically initiated by complaints from other candidates, parties, watchdog groups, and the public), audits a limited number of campaigns and organizations for compliance, administers the presidential public funding programs for presidential candidates and, until recently, nominating conventions, and defends the statute in challenges to federal election laws and regulations.
The FEC also publishes reports filed by Senate, House of Representatives and Presidential campaigns that list how much each campaign has raised and spent, and a list of all donors over $200, along with each donor's home address, employer and job title. This database also goes back to 1980. Private organizations are legally prohibited from using these data to solicit new individual donors (and the FEC authorizes campaigns to include a limited number of "dummy" names as a measure to prevent this), but may use this information to solicit Political Action Committees. The FEC also maintains an active program of public education, directed primarily to explaining the law to the candidates, their campaigns, political parties and other political committees that it regulates.
Criticism[edit]
 | This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. (November 2018) |
Campaign finance[edit]
Critics of the FEC, including campaign finance reform supporters such as Common Cause and Democracy 21, have complained that it is a classic example of regulatory capture where it serves the interests of the ones it was intended to regulate. The FEC's bipartisan structure, which was established by Congress, renders the agency "toothless." Critics also claim that most FEC penalties for violating election law come well after the actual election in which they were committed. Additionally, some critics claim that the commissioners tend to act as an arm of the "regulated community" of parties, interest groups, and politicians when issuing rulings and writing regulations. Others point out, however, that the commissioners rarely divide evenly along partisan lines, and that the response time problem may be endemic to the enforcement procedures established by Congress. To complete steps necessary to resolve a complaint – including time for defendants to respond to the complaint, time to investigate and engage in legal analysis, and finally, where warranted, prosecution – necessarily takes far longer than the comparatively brief period of a political campaign.
First Amendment issues[edit]
Critics including former FEC chairman Bradley Smith and Stephen M. Hoersting, executive director of the Center for Competitive Politics, criticize the FEC for pursuing overly aggressive enforcement theories that amount to an infringement on the First Amendment right to free speech.[5]
Division over the issue became especially prominent during the last several years of the Obama administration. Commissioners deadlocked on several votes over whether to regulate Twitter, Facebook, and other online mediums for political speech, as well as a vote to punish Fox News for the selection criteria it used in a presidential debate.[6][7] Democrats argued for more regulation on the basis that it would protect consumers and encourage more inclusive political speech. Republicans opposed regulation, with former chairman Lee E. Goodman accusing Democrats of trying to alter the First Amendment by "administrative fiat."[8]
Deadlocks[edit]
Critics of the Commission also argue that the membership structure regularly causes deadlocks on 3-3 votes,[9] but others argue that deadlocks are actually quite rare,[10] and typically based on principle rather than partisanship.[11] Since 2008, 3-3 votes have become more common at the FEC. From 2008 to August 2014, the FEC has had over 200 tie votes, accounting for approximately 14 percent of all votes in enforcement matters.[12]
Commissioners[edit]
Current[edit]
| Name | Position | Party | Appointed by | Sworn in | Term expires[13] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caroline C. Hunter | Chairman | Republican | George W. Bush | June 27, 2008 | April 30, 2013
Term expired—serving until replaced |
| Ellen L. Weintraub | Vice Chairman | Democratic | December 9, 2002 | April 30, 2007
Term expired—serving until replaced | |
| Matthew S. Petersen | Commissioner | Republican | June 24, 2008 | April 30, 2011
Term expired—serving until replaced | |
| Steven T. Walther | Commissioner | Independent | June 24, 2008 | April 30, 2009
Term expired—serving until replaced |
Former[edit]
- Joan D. Aikens – April 1975 – September 1998 (reappointed May 1976, December 1981, August 1983 and October 1989).
- Thomas B. Curtis – April 1975 – May 1976.
- Thomas E. Harris – April 1975 – October 1986 (reappointed May 1976 and June 1979).
- Neil O. Staebler – April 1975 – October 1978 (reappointed May 1976).
- Vernon W. Thomson – April 1975 – June 1979; January 1981 – December 1981 (reappointed May 1976).
- Robert Tiernan – April 1975 – December 1981 (reappointed May 1976).
- William L. Springer – May 1976 – February 1979.
- John Warren McGarry – October 1978 – August 1998 (reappointed July 1983 and October 1989).
- Max L. Friedersdorf – March 1979 – December 1980.
- Frank P. Reiche – July 1979 – August 1985.
- Lee Ann Elliott – December 1981 – June 2000 (reappointed July 1987 and July 1994).
- Danny L. McDonald – December 1981 – January 2006 (reappointed in July 1987, July 1994 and July 2000).
- Thomas J. Josefiak – August 1985 – December 1991.
- Scott E. Thomas – October 1986 – January 2006 (reappointed in November 1991 and July 1998).
- Trevor Potter – November 1991 – October 1995.
- Darryl R. Wold – July 1998 – April 2002.
- Karl J. Sandstrom – July 1998 – December 2002.
- David M. Mason – July 1998 – July 2008.
- Bradley A. Smith – May 2000 – August 2005.
- Michael E. Toner – March 2002 – March 2007. (by recess appointment on March 29, 2002, confirmed to full term 2003)
- Robert D. Lenhard – January 2006 – December 31, 2007. (by recess appointment on January 4, 2006)
- Hans A. von Spakovsky – January 2006 – December 31, 2007. (by recess appointment on January 4, 2006)
- Cynthia L. Bauerly – June 2008 – confirmed June 24, 2008[14] for a term expiring on April 30, 2011[15] Resigned effective February 1, 2013.
- Donald F. McGahn II – June 2008 – September 2013.
- Lee E. Goodman - October 2013 - February 2018.
- Ann Ravel – October 2013 – March 2017.
See also[edit]
- Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
- Campaign finance in the United States
- Dark Money (film)
- Election Assistance Commission
- Elections in the United States
- Federal Election Campaign Act
- Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations
Case law[edit]
- Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
- Federal Election Commission v. Akins (1998), authorizing "any party aggrieved by an order of the Commission" to file a suit
- McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003)
- Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007), holding that issue ads may not be banned before elections
- Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008)
- Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
- McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014)
References[edit]
- ^ "Federal Election Commission: Agency Financial Report, Fiscal Year 2017" (pdf) (Government agency's financial report). November 15, 2017: 5, 67. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.
- ^ a b "About". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ "52 U.S. Code § 30106 - Federal Election Commission". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
- ^ "FEC biography of Ellen L. Weintraub". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ^ Bradley A. Smith; Stephen M. Hoersting (2002). "A Toothless Anaconda: Innovation, Impotence, and Overenforcement at the Federal Election Commission". Election Law Journal. 1 (2): 145–171. doi:10.1089/153312902753610002.
- ^ Berger, Judson (June 30, 2016). "FEC Democrats tried to punish Fox News over debate changes, files show". Fox News.
- ^ Takala, Rudy (September 27, 2016). "Regulators spar over whether unregulated Internet harms minorities". Washington Examiner.
- ^ Takala, Rudy (June 30, 2016). "FEC Commissioner: Regulators attacking First Amendment by 'administrative fiat'". Washington Examiner.
- ^ CREW Sues the Federal Election Commission over Case Dismissals, OMB Watch, August 17, 2010 Archived February 21, 2012, at the Library of Congress Web Archives
- ^ "Opening Statement of Bradley A. Smith, Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, Before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, June 4, 2004" (PDF).
- ^ Politics (and FEC enforcement) make strange bedfellows: The Soros book matter, Bob Bauer, More Soft Money Hard Law, January 29, 2009 Archived September 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Confessore, Nicholas (August 25, 2014). "Election Panel Enacts Policies by Not Acting". New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
- ^ "Commissioners - FEC.gov". FEC.gov.
- ^ FEC Elects Officers for 2008, FEC press release, July 10, 2008.
- ^ New FEC Commissioners Assume Office, FEC press release, July 8, 2008.
Further reading[edit]
- Takala, Rudy (January 4, 2016). "Commissioner: FEC power grabs are the real 'dysfunction'". Washington Examiner.
- Christopher Rowland (July 7, 2013). "America's campaign-finance watchdog is rendered nearly toothless by its own appointed commissioners". Boston Globe.
- "Will the Federal Election Commission Ever Work Again?". BusinessWeek. May 2, 2013.
