Press Releases
Watchdog Calls on Lawmakers to Pause Biased FEC Nominations
Trump Moving to Politicize FEC After Leaving Vacancies for Months
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After leaving the Federal Election Commission (FEC) toothless and without quorum for more than a year, President Trump is now making moves to politicize the campaign finance governing body, swiftly nominating three new commissioners for next week. The nominees include two Republicans and one Independent — with no Democratic counterpart — bucking the traditional standard for FEC nominations.
In response to the president’s political and highly unusual moves, government watchdog Accountable.US sent a letter from its president, Kyle Herrig, to the offices of Senators Amy Klobuchar and Roy Blunt asking the Senate Rules and Administration Committee to halt any FEC commissioner nomination proceedings until after the new administration takes office. In the letter, Herrig writes:
“After nearly 80 million Americans voted to elect former Vice President Joe Biden to serve as the next president of the United States and with just 68 days until Inauguration Day, it is distressing that President Trump and his allies could seat additional biased commissioners to the FEC in just a few short weeks… Just because rushed and unfair nomination proceedings have become the standard of the last four years, these important seats should not also be forced to fall victim to partisan fighting.”
Without quorum, the FEC has spent months unable to pursue the crucial enforcement actions it exists to perform. But the new partisan divide President Trump is attempting to push would also leave the commission gridlocked and unable to make determinations on the 275+ outstanding complaints filed with the FEC.
See more research from Accountable.US on Trump’s late-ditch attempt to politicize and further hinder the FEC’s operations here.
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