The FEC Is Disintegrating. Our Democracy Is at Stake.
President Trump’s unwillingness to to keep the agency staffed is indicative of his administration’s disdain for election laws
I resigned from the Federal Election Commission in March 2017. President Trump left my seat, meant to be filled by a Democrat, vacant.
The same thing happened after a Republican member resigned in 2018. No one replaced him.
Now a third member has stepped down: After 11 years on the commission, Vice Chair Matt Petersen suddenly resigned in late August. With his departure, the FEC, responsible for enforcing the nation’s campaign finance laws, lost its required quorum of four members. (The commission is actually supposed to have six members, with no more than three of one political party, but it has been without a full complement of commissioners for more than two years.)
Petersen’s departure means that, as of this month, the FEC will be unable to hold a meeting, much less cast a vote. There will be no hearings, no new rules, no advisory opinions, no audits, and no new investigations — all just a few years after a Russia scandal that rocked our presidential election. And all as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up.
