Brad Smith in the Columbus Dispatch:

But today the FEC is under attack from members of Congress whose misguided proposal to “reform” the agency could take us back to the Watergate era. A bill co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Renacci, an Ohio Republican, would shrink the agency from six commissioners to five. That may sound like a minor change, but it has huge implications.

Right now, Republicans and Democrats have equal influence over the commission. With six commissioners, at least one vote from each side is needed to write new rules or open investigations. In the five-commissioner agency envisioned by Renacci, one party will consistently trump the other.