Issue One warns FEC commissioner’s resignation will defang nation’s top campaign finance watchdog

In the wake of the news that the six-member Federal Election Commission (FEC) — the independent federal agency that acts as the nation’s top civil campaign finance watchdog — has lost the quorum it needs to conduct business and enforce the laws on the books, Issue One issued the following statement.

“Without a quorum, the FEC is a watchdog without a bark or bite,” said Issue One Senior Research Director Michael Beckel. “Losing its quorum defangs the FEC at a time when the robust scrutiny of money in politics is needed more than ever.”

Beckel continued: “A defanged and dysfunctional FEC that doesn’t even have a quorum fails to give the American people the protection from corruption that they deserve. Without a quorum, the FEC cannot investigate campaign finance complaints, conduct audits, levy fines against rule-breakers, issue new rules or advisory opinions, initiate new litigation, or even hold meetings. What the FEC needs most is a full array of commissioners who are firmly committed to enforce our nation’s campaign finance laws — individuals who put country over party and who understand the importance of the rule of law. The loss of a quorum at the FEC is a breach of trust with the American people who don’t want the nation’s anti-corruption laws to go unenforced.”

Read Issue One’s Substack to learn more.

Background:

This is the fourth time in the FEC’s 50-year history that the commission has lost a quorum, and the third loss of a quorum under a Trump presidency.

The first time the FEC lost its quorum was for six months in 2008, under President George W. Bush. This occurred at a time when there was political pressure to restore the FEC’s quorum because then-Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) needed a functional FEC to sign off on public financing for his campaign. (McCain was the last major party presidential nominee to participate in the presidential public financing system created in the wake of the Watergate scandal.)

The second and third instances happened during Trump’s first term when the FEC was without a quorum for 14 months between September 1, 2019, and December 9, 2020, with its quorum briefly restored for one month between June 5 and July 4.

It’s unclear how long the new loss of a quorum will last, or how many, if any, new FEC commissioners Trump will nominate anytime soon. Theoretically, Trump could nominate up to five new commissioners, as only Democratic FEC Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum’s term is unexpired.

By law, FEC commissioners are supposed to serve for no more than a single, six-year term, but in practice, FEC commissioners on expired terms continue to retain all their power, and presidents of both parties in recent years have not prioritized adding new blood to the commission.

Since Trump won the 2024 presidential election, two of the FEC’s three Republican commissioners have made for the exit, with Republican Sean Cooksey resigning in January and Republican Allan Dickerson expected to resign tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in February, Trump unilaterally ousted one of the three other commissioners serving on an expired term — Democrat Ellen Weintraub — a move that has been criticized as illegal but which has been labeled a vacancy on the FEC’s website.