Senate committee Thursday voted to advance President Trump’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the Federal Election Commission, which would restore the agency’s ability to conduct official business.
The Senate Rules and Administration Committee voted along party lines to nominate conservative Texas lawyer James E. “Trey” Trainor III and move his nomination to the full Senate, three years after he was first named for the position.
The FEC, which regulates federal campaign finance laws, lost the ability to do its job in August, when the resignation of a commissioner left it unable to operate without its necessary four-person quorum.
The nomination of Trainor had been in limbo amid questions over his social media postings and a standstill among Senate leaders on the logistics of appointing commissioners. In March, the committee had held a rare public hearing on Trainor’s nomination, which served as the first step to confirm him to the position.AD
Trainor, an Austin-based elections lawyer, has pushed for less regulation of money in politics and fought efforts to require politically active nonprofit organizations to disclose their donors. Government transparency groups widely oppose Trainor’s confirmation.