In recent years, the Federal Election Commission’s(FEC) decisions have been caught in gridlock quite often due to the increasing polarization between political parties and ideological differences among members of the governing commission. The gridlock has caused a decline in the FEC’s enforcement of regulations, for example, in 2006, the FEC failed to get a majority in only 4.2 percent of enforcement cases, a sharp contrast to 2016 where the FEC failed to get a majority in 37.5 percent of enforcement cases. The FEC commission is an independent regulatory agency that functions as the “nation’s chief campaign finance watchdog.” The FEC commission consists of six commissioners that are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. By law, there cannot be more than three commissioners from a single political party, and currently, there is 1 independent(identifies as independent but votes along with the two other democrats), 2 democrats, and 3 republican commissioners. Due to the commission needing four votes to execute and implement an action, the three Republicans out of six commissioners have been able to block any action taken against strengthening regulations, stopping campaign investigations, and rulemaking on issues such as super PAC contributions. The most prominent case regarding the FEC’s enforcements laws came from the ruling of the 2010 Supreme Court case FEC v. Citizens United, which ruled that political campaigns did not have to disclose funds as corporations could donate unlimited amounts of money for independent expenditures.
During former President Trump’s term, the FEC did not meet expectations to uphold campaign finance regulations from lack of a majority. Democratic commissioners on the other hand support strict regulation on campaign financing and the disclosure of funds. Recently the Biden administration and Democratic representatives have failed to pass voting rights legislation which would have made FEC’s powers stronger. However, Biden has nominated Dara Lindenbaum, an election law attorney, to replace commissioner Steven T. Walther, the current FEC vice chair, who identifies as an independent. Along with her lengthy resume from serving as associate counsel in the Voting Rights Project to currently working at the Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock firm, Dara Lindenbaum’s appointment to the FEC will uphold the FEC’s member commission requirements(3-3).
Questions:
What do you think about Biden’s nomination of Dara Lindenbaum?
Should Biden continue to take steps towards enforcing the FEC’s campaign finance laws?
Do you think changes should be made to the structure of the FEC Commission to encourage conclusive resolutions?
Sources:
1 comment:
I think Biden’s nomination of Dara Lindenbaum is a good choice. She seems qualified and has a long history working with election laws and campaign finances which suggests she has expertise in the field and will be able to make educated decisions and suggestions in the FEC. As far as being able to change the gridlock that’s happening in the FEC, I don’t think her nomination will do much if she’s replacing Walther because it will still be a 3-3 vote on some things. However, if Biden could perhaps nominate an independent to the commission, since the rules only say that there can only be three members representing a single political party, perhaps that could change the sway of the commission and help stop gridlock. Also, I think Biden definitely should continue to take steps towards enforcing the FEC’s campaign finance laws since the executive branch’s main purpose is to enforce laws. Laws can turn into just words if they’re not enforced. Especially with midterm elections coming up this November, the Biden administration should be focused on enforcing the FEC’s campaign finance laws.
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