On May 3, the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration favorably reported to the full Senate its approval of the nomination of Dara Lindenbaum to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

In January, FEC Vice Chair Steven T. Walther announced he would be stepping down as commissioner upon the nomination and confirmation of his replacement.

Lindenbaum, who was nominated by President Joe Biden on January 21, is currently an attorney with Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., previously worked with the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. According to her profile on her law firm’s website, she also currently serves as General Counsel to Stacey Abrams’ campaign for Governor of Georgia.

With the appointment of Lindenbaum, there will be three registered members of the Republican Party, and three registered members of the Democratic Party. No more than three members of the FEC may be registered with the same political party.

To become a commissioner, Lindenbaum must now be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) published its price index adjustments for expenditure limitations and the federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold.

The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has increased for 2022 from $19,300 to $20,200. This threshold amount is adjusted annually.

Federal law requires authorized committees of federal candidates, leadership political action committees (PACs), and political party committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists and lobbyists’ PACs.

Additionally, the FEC published its adjusted Coordinated Party Expenditure Limits for political parties for 2022.

On December 16, the Federal Election Commission elected Commissioner Allen Dickerson as its chairman for 2022.

Dickerson will replace current Chairwoman Shana M. Broussard.

The chairmanship is a rotating, one-year position.No commissioner may serve as chair more than once during his or her term.

Additionally, Commissioner Steven T. Walther was elected to the position of vice chair.

On May 6, a unanimous Federal Election Commission (FEC) sent a message to the U.S. Congress: prohibit political campaigns from using tactics that unwittingly enter donors into recurring contributions.

As part of a package of legislative recommendations approved at its open meeting, the bipartisan commission asked Congress to amend current federal campaign finance law to require “affirmative consent” by donors if a political entity wants the donors enrolled in a program of recurring contributions.

As reported by the New York Times last month, campaigns involved with former President Donald J. Trump steered large numbers of their political contributors, without the contributors’ realization, into repeated periodic donations though prechecked boxes (for authorization) included on what many donors thought was a one-time payment form. The tactic has also been used by groups supporting Democratic candidates, including Actblue and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

In its legislative recommendation, the FEC stated “that many contributors are unaware of the ‘pre- checked’ boxes and are surprised by the already completed transactions appearing on account statements.”

On February 25, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved an advisory opinion allowing certain PACs to use aggregated data collected from the PAC’s contributors to advance the PAC’s political interests.

Advisory Opinion 2021-02 holds an independent expenditure-only PAC may inform a member of Congress or congressional candidate of the number of its contributors who live in the relevant state or district and the collective dollar amount that they give to the PAC. The request for the opinion was made by FEN-PAC, an independent expenditure-only political committee engaging lawmakers and candidates to advocate on certain legislative and policy issues. FEN-PAC, in its request, said it would not disclose any contributor’s contact information, nor would FEN-PAC or any third parties use any individual contributor information to solicit contributions or to sell other products or services.

The FEC held such use of aggregate data does not violate the Federal Election Campaign Act or any FEC regulations because it is not being sold or used for either soliciting contributions or commercial purposes.

The FEC specifically did not address any other federal laws or regulations could be affected by the PAC’s use of the aggregated data.

On December 22, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced the election of Shana M. Broussard as its chairwoman for 2021.

Additionally, Allen Dickerson was elected as vice chair for next year.

Both Broussard and Dickerson, along with Sean Cooksey, were all confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 9.

By confirming three new commissioners, the FEC, where only three of the agency’s six seats had been filled since July 4, are now able to conduct official business.

Federal law requires at least four commissioners agree on any official action. The positions of chair and vice chair are rotating, one-year positions.

On August 7, the Federal Election Commission’s published its civil monetary penalty amounts adjusted for inflation in the Federal Register.

The potential fine for civil violations of federal campaign finance laws now ranges from $6,069 to $70,973.

The amounts are calculated through a statutory formula applying the most recent “cost-of-living adjustment multiplier,” issued by the Office of Management and Budget, to the current amounts.

The amended civil monetary penalties took effect as of August 7, the publication date.

Caroline Hunter announced that she will resign from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on July 3, 2020, leaving the agency without a quorum.

Hunter was appointed in 2008 by President George W. Bush for a six-year term, but stayed on for another six years due to a replacement not being appointed.

After her retirement, Hunter will be joining the philanthropic group Stand Together.

President Trump has nominated Allen Dickerson, the legal director for the conservative non-profit Institute of Free Speech, to replace Hunter.

The FEC, however, had only just regained a quorum this May after nine months of being unable to conduct business.

This delay was due to having only three of the agency’s six seats filled.

In response to several states postponing congressional and presidential primary elections to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been updating some of the campaign finance report due dates related to those elections.

The law requires many reports, such as pre-election reports, electioneering communications reports, and reports accounting for independent expenditures, base their due date and their covered periods upon the actual date of the election.

The FEC will adjust the deadlines for the relevant reports related to postponed elections.

Specifically, the FEC has directed that if a state postpones its election after the deadline for the applicable pre-election report, participating committees must file an additional pre-election report due 12 days before the new election date.

Otherwise, committees need only file the pre-election report for the new election date.

A political campaign affected by a postponement may continue to accept contributions until the date of the rescheduled election.

On March 17, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced it will be receiving but not processing mail.

The FEC closed its offices to visitors on March 13.

The delay in processing is due to the bulk of the agency’s staff teleworking in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

This affects all documents submitted on paper, including:

• • Non-electronically filed reports
  • Advisory opinion requests
  • Enforcement complaints
  • Court-case documents

While campaign finance reports filed electronically will be processed in the normal fashion, the FEC will not be processing campaign finance reports filed by mail or other delivery services until the agency resumes normal mail operations.

The FEC maintains filers should still continue to file their reports on time.

The FEC does not have legal authority to extend any deadlines, but it “may choose not to pursue administrative fines against filers prevented from filing by reasonably unforeseen circumstances beyond their control,” according to its press release.

All electronic filing systems, web-based programs, and the agency’s website remain online and functional.

The FEC staff will still respond to all telephone and email inquiries.

On March 10, the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee will hold a nomination hearing.

This will comprise of the full committee to consider James “Trey” Trainor as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Trainor is a lawyer licensed in Texas who specializes in election law, campaign finance, and ethics.

Trainor previously served in the president’s administration as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, in the Department of Defense, Office of General Counsel.

President Donald J. Trump had originally nominated Trainor to serve as a commissioner in 2017, but a hearing was never held.

Currently the FEC, which has three of its six commissioner positions vacant, does not have a quorum to take most formal measures.

The FEC requires at least four commissioners to agree on any official action.

To become a commissioner, Trainor must be confirmed by the full U.S. Senate.

Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) published its price index adjustments for expenditure limitations and the federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold.

The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has increased for 2020 from $18,700 to $19,000. This threshold amount is adjusted annually.

Federal law requires authorized committees of federal candidates, leadership political action committees (PACs), and political party committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists and lobbyists’ PACs.

Additionally, the FEC published its adjusted Coordinated Party Expenditure Limits for political parties for 2020.

On February 3, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a 74-page report discussing current federal campaign finance issues.

The report, Campaign Finance: Federal Framework, Agency Roles and Responsibilities, and Perspectives, offers observations from specialists on the issues.

Specifically, the report covers the legal framework of the federal campaign finance law, various federal agencies’ roles, responsibilities, and enforcement challenges, and several perspectives on certain segments of the legal framework.

One conclusion reached is “campaign finance statutes and regulations have not kept up with the rapid expansion of campaign spending on the internet and do not regulate online political ads to the same extent as television, radio, and print ads.”

Another conclusion is that campaign finance laws related to prohibited activities for foreign nationals may be inadequate to prevent all types of foreign involvement, such as funds raised by and through 501(c) organizations or limited liability companies, which historically have not been required to publicly report their funding sources.

The report also raises the issue of differing and opposing views regarding whether the public disclosure of campaign contributions helps inform the electorate or stigmatizes those supporting unpopular candidates or organizations.

The GAO report recommends the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Department of Justice coordinate together to review policies and campaign finance guidance, while acknowledging the FEC currently doesn’t have a quorum to make changes to guidance.

The GAO was asked to review issues related to the enforcement of federal campaign finance laws by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is seeking public comments on proposals for rules requiring national party committees to report receipts and disbursements for their segregated accounts.

These comments must be submitted on or before October 28, 2019.

A petition filed by the Campaign Legal Center and the Center for Responsive Politics made a request to the FEC.

The request stated the national party committees report their receipts to and disbursements from the accounts in “inconsistent and insufficient ways,” making the public unable to clearly determine the amounts of money received and disbursed from the segregated accounts.

The notice of availability for the submission of public comments was issued in the August 28 Federal Register.