The Republican vice-chair of the Federal Election Commission has resigned, which means that there aren’t enough commissioners for the FEC to operate and enforce campaign finance laws as we head into the 2020 election.
After the resignation of Republican vice-chairman Matthew S. Petersen 0n Monday, the FEC doesn’t have enough commissioners to hold a quorum and conduct business. The commission is supposed to have six members, three Republicans and three Democrats, but there are currently only three.
Part of the problem is Trump, who broke with tradition by only nominating a Republican commissioner. Normally, presidents have nominated a Republican and a Democrat. Trump tried to rig the FEC. The Senate won’t give his nominee a hearing, and now, the country is stuck with a commission that can’t actually enforce penalties for campaign finance violations.
This means that while the FEC will still be able to shine a light on the funding of our elections, they will not be able to be back up to full speed until probably after the 2020 election. At a time when the country needs stronger campaign finance laws, Trump has set up a situation where candidates could theoretically cheat all they want with little or no consequence potentially for years down the road for their violations of the law.
Dark money has lost before and it can lose again if the will of a determined majority is stronger than the almighty dollar.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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