FEC - Federal Election Commission
12/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/13/2024 15:57
Week of December 9 – 13, 2024
Commission meetings and hearings
On December 10 and 12, the Commission met in executive session.
On December 12, the Commission held an open meeting.
Election of Officers
On December 12, the Commission elected Ellen L. Weintraub as Chair and James E. "Trey" Trainor, III as Vice Chairman for 2025.
Advisory Opinions
Opinion Issued
Advisory Opinion 2024-15 (Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts) On December 12, the Commission approved an advisory opinion in response to a request from Unified Libertarians of Massachusetts, concluding that the requestor qualifies as a state committee of a political party.
Enforcement
The Commission made public one closed case and one request for guidance, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Search System.
COMPLAINANTS: James F. Heckman; Lori McFarland; and Lindsey Scott
RESPONDENT: Erin McClelland for Congress, Inc. and Douglas Campbell, in his official capacity as treasurer (terminated) (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee failed to timely file two disclosure reports during the 2020 election cycle and failed to file 11 subsequent disclosure reports. The complaint alleged further that the Committee failed to correctly report cash on hand and debt in its 2020 July Quarterly Report. McClelland was a 2016 candidate for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter.
MUR 1604 (Recommendation to Relieve a Respondent from a Remedial Measure in a Conciliation Agreement) Last week, in response to a request submitted by counsel to the requestor, the Commission voted to approve a recommendation from the Office of General Counsel to relieve the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (Brady Campaign) of a remedial measure that was required by a 1984 conciliation agreement with the Commission in MUR 1604, regarding solicitation of the corporation's members for contributions to the organization's political action committee. That agreement provided that a requirement for membership in the Brady Campaign (which was then known as Handgun Control, Inc.) must include the right to elect a director to the organization's governing board. Due to intervening changes regarding the definition of "membership organization," and in light of the fact that the Brady Campaign no longer has a connected PAC, the Commission found that the Brady Campaign is relieved from satisfying the remedial measures contained in Paragraph VII of the conciliation agreement.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Commission made public two closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Search System.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Alaska Democratic Party and Monica Southworth, in the official capacity of Treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to disclose all financial activity on its 2023 Year-End Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed (1) to certify that it performed reconciliation of the Committee's accounts for each required FEC report for one year from the effective date of the settlement, (2) to certify that a Committee representative participated in an FEC conference, webinar, or other program, and (3) to pay a civil penalty of $8,300.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Coalition for Fantasy Sports PAC and Kayla Lott, in the official capacity of Treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to disclose all financial activity on its 2023 Year-End Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to certify that a representative participated in an FEC conference, webinar, or other program and to pay a civil penalty of $4,975.
Regulations and agency procedures
REG 2024-06 (Requests to Modify or Redact Contributor Information): Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking On December 12, the Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on proposed procedures for contributors or their agents to request the Commission - in certain limited circumstances when there is a reasonable probability the contributor may face threat, harassment or reprisal - to modify or redact, in whole or in part, certain contributor information from a disclosure report or statement that has been filed with the Commission. The Commission seeks comments on the Notice, which will be published in the Federal Register with a deadline for submitting comments.
Recommendation that the Office of General Counsel Conduct a Review of the Agency's Regulations On December 12, the Commission considered a recommendation that the Office of General Counsel conduct a review of the agency's regulations and determine their vulnerability to legal challenge under the Administrative Procedure Act, but did not approve the recommendation by the required four affirmative votes.
Statement of Policy Regarding the Notification of Respondents in Matters Under Review Remanded From a Challenge Pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(8) On December 12, the Commission approved a Policy Statement to explain that, if the Commission receives a remand in litigation instituted pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(8), it will notify the respondents in the Matter Under Review ("MUR") of the relevant court decision(s) and provide an opportunity to file supplemental responses.
Legislative Recommendations
Legislative Recommendations 2024 On December 12, the Commission voted to approve a package of 17 legislative recommendations that it will send to the President and Congress for consideration, including four that the Commission identifies as those of highest priority:
- Establish an Itemization Threshold for Conduit Contributions
- Increase the Rate of Pay for FEC Commissioners, Staff Director and General Counsel
- Amend the Foreign National Prohibition to Include Substantial Assistance
- Amend the Foreign National Prohibition to Include State and Local Ballot Initiatives, Referenda and Recall Elections
Commissioner Allen J. Dickerson issued a Statement Regarding the Commission's 2024 Legislative Recommendations,
Outreach
On December 9, Vice Chair Weintraub participated on the Campaign Finance Litigation panel at the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws in Los Angeles, California.
Press releases
FEC approves advisory opinion, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, legislative recommendations, and policy statement; elects officers for 2025 (issued December 12)
Ellen L. Weintraub elected Chair, James E. "Trey" Trainor, III elected Vice Chairman for 2025 (issued December 12)
Upcoming educational opportunities
January 15, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host Year-End reporting and FECFile webinars for political action committees (PACs) and party committees.
January 22, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host Year-End reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.
For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission's Trainings page.
Upcoming reporting due dates
January 31, 2025: Year-End Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 Quarterly and Monthly Reporting schedules.
Additional research materials
Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.
Federal Elections 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.
FEC Notify : Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.
The Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings.
The Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on balance of the Fund, monthly deposits into the Fund reported by the Department of the Treasury, payments from the Fund as certified by the FEC, and participation rates of taxpayers as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information on the Presidential Public Funding Program, see the Public Funding of Presidential Elections page.
The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.
Other election-related resources
Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI's Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.
Join the FEC on X and YouTube
Follow @FEC on X to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms. The use of the agency's logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.