Open Season for Corruption as Resignations and Trump Attacks Leave FEC Toothless
"With unprecedented amounts of Big Money flooding our elections, the American people deserve a fully functioning FEC that serves as a watchdog—not one that protects corrupt politicians and billionaire donors."
The federal body that oversees the nation's campaign finance system officially lost its enforcement and rulemaking powers Thursday following a pair of resignations and U.S. President Donald Trump's lawless firing of a Democratic official.
The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) was left with just three sitting members—one short of the four required for a quorum—after two Republican commissioners departed and Trump terminated Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub in February.
While Weintraub called the firing illegal and said she intended to remain in office in defiance of the president, Politico noted that she "has not participated in recent commission votes and is no longer listed on the agency's website."
Daniel Weiner, director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, noted Thursday that "such a shortfall" on the commission "has only happened three other times in the FEC's 50-year history, including twice during Trump's first term."
"Thanks in part to its evenly divided leadership, the FEC is nobody's idea of an aggressive watchdog, often deadlocking on partisan lines in important matters," Weiner added. "That gridlock has exacerbated the effects of Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United, for instance, by making it easier for candidates to outsource key campaign operations to super PACs that can raise unlimited amounts of money. But even a dysfunctional FEC is still important."
"Loss of the FEC's quorum won't keep data from being collected and published, but the commission won't be able to do anything to enforce reporting requirements against those who ignore them," he continued. "It also can't address novel legal issues that arise—for instance, in connection to online campaign activity, where significant reporting gaps remain."
The FEC is once again virtually powerless just months after one of the most expensive elections in U.S. history, which saw the top 100 billionaire families in the U.S. pump $2.6 billion into federal contests. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, spent hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Trump's campaign and engaged in what experts and watchdogs called a "clearly illegal vote-buying" operation.
The anti-corruption group End Citizens United wrote on social media Thursday that "with unprecedented amounts of Big Money flooding our elections, the American people deserve a fully functioning FEC that serves as a watchdog—not one that protects corrupt politicians and billionaire donors."
"By gutting the agency," the group wrote, "the door has been left wide open to corruption in our elections."
