January 10, 2008

Rule Change To Allow FEC Meeting Despite Hill Standoff

The Federal Election Commission is moving to conduct some business despite a political standoff that leaves it unable to issue formal opinions.

After tweaking its rules in December, the agency announced Tuesday it will convene a Jan. 24 public meeting where the commission's two members, Republican David Mason and Democrat Ellen Weintraub, will discuss reports drafted by staff in response to requests for opinions. Without a quorum, the commissioners cannot approve binding opinions, but the discussions and staff recommendations should guide the requesters' actions, according to an FEC spokesman.

"The idea is that maybe the discussion will help the requesters get a sense of where the commission stands," the spokesman said. The guidance will be particularly clear if Weintraub and Mason take similar positions.

The FEC usually has three Republican and three Democratic members but has been left short by a clash between President Bush and Senate Democrats.

Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., put holds on the renomination of Hans von Spakovsky, due to his support while at the Justice Department's civil rights division for a photo identification law that liberal groups said was aimed at suppressing minority voting. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has not allowed other nominees to move separately, and Bush has refused to offer replacement nominees.

With recess appointments of von Spakovsky and two other commissioners expired, the agency cannot vote on binding decisions until the situation is resolved. That leaves the FEC unable to issue fines or offer official guidance on closely watched issues such as a provision in a new law requiring lobbyists or others who bundle political contributions worth more than $15,000 to report their activity.

But in anticipation of the problem, the commissioners Dec. 20 adopted special rules to allow meeting with just two commissioners present if four are not confirmed. Previously public meetings required four commissioners. The special rules allow the commission to discuss any matter and to take administrative steps like scheduling events, issuing campaign guides, resolving budget matters, awarding contracts and appointing new staff.

The agenda for the Jan. 24 meeting is not set. The meeting will likely cover one or two of four pending advisory opinion requests: whether Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., can use campaign funds to pay legal bills; whether the conservative Club for Growth must identify itself as the sponsor of radio advertisements; whether SpeechNow.org can advocate for federal candidates free of federal limits on contributions by political committees; and whether FreeCause Inc. will be considered to have made political contributions by letting political committees sponsor a customizable online toolbar it developed.

-Dan Friedman, CongressDaily

Posted at 1:12 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Senate
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