Ellen Weintraub: With a bolt out of the blue last Friday, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals bestowed a superpower upon the Federal Election Commission. Unfortunately, it is the power to kill any FEC enforcement matter, wholly… Continue reading

This opinion by Senior Judge Randolph, joined by Judge Kavanaugh is most unfortunate. As Judge Pillard suggests in her dissent, the opinion insulates FEC Commissioners’  refusal to enforce certain campaign finance laws from judicial review under the guise of “prosecutorial… Continue reading

Bloomberg BNA: A federal court upheld the Federal Election Commission’s dismissal of disclosure charges involving two wealthy contributors who allegedly funneled $14 million to super-political action committees through obscure companies. The FEC’s three Republican commissioners, who voted to dismiss the… Continue reading

NPR: As tech companies and government agencies prepare to defend against possible Russian interference in the midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission has a different response: too soon. The four commissioners on Thursday deadlocked, again, on proposals to consider new… Continue reading

Bloomberg BNA: A Democrat on the Federal Election Commission is renewing her push for FEC rules to prevent foreign campaign spending following an announcement from the Senate Intelligence Committee confirming Russian election meddling. “There is no doubt that Russia undertook… Continue reading

CPI: In separate interviews Thursday with the Center for Public Integrity, each of the four “holdover”  commissioners — who may continue to serve until President Donald Trump and the U.S. Senate replace them — confirmed that they have no… Continue reading

Dan Tokaji has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Democracy by the People). Here is the abstract: Composed of six commissioners, three aligned with each major party, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) consistently stalemates on critical questions of campaign finance… Continue reading

Bloomberg BNA: The Federal Election Commission should have pursued enforcement action against the American Action Network, a conservative nonprofit, for failing to disclose funding sources for millions of dollars in television ads supporting Republican congressional candidates, a federal judge ruled… Continue reading

TPM: News broke late last week that the Federal Election Commission had opened a preliminary inquiry into whether Russians illegally channeled money to the National Rifle Association to support Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. But the FEC’s move, which came… Continue reading

WaPo: More than a year into his presidency, President Trump has shown little interest in beefing up the Federal Election Commission, the agency that could serve as a key player in his avowed agenda to reduce the influence of moneyed… Continue reading