There's just a few days left to snag some Marketplace swag at a discount when you... Donate Today! 🎁

New FEC commissioners wanted

Steve Henn Jun 17, 2008
HTML EMBED:
COPY

New FEC commissioners wanted

Steve Henn Jun 17, 2008
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: Imagine an election year where the agency in charge of campaign finance laws can’t do anything. Well, that’s exactly what’s happening thus year. Marketplace’s Steve Henn explains.


Steve Henn: With just two sitting commissioners, the FEC can’t reach a quorum, start an investigation, issue a ruling, or write a single regulation.

Fred Wertheimer is the founder of Democracy 21, a campaign finance reform group.

Fred Wertheimer: If this had happened in a third-world country, we would have called it a banana republic.

Normally six commissioners sit on the FEC. Now, there’s a deal and the Senate’s likely to approve new commissioners any day.

Wertheimer: Five of the six commissioners are going to be new people who have never served on the commission. They’re going to have a very tough job ahead.

Commissioners will need to decide if John McCain violated campaign laws by first applying for, and then rejecting, federal matching funds. They’ll have to issue some new rules for lobbyists raising campaign cash. Then, they can take up more than 200 enforcement actions sitting on ice.

In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.