Week of March 20-24, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On March 22, the Commission held a public hearing on proposed changes to regulations regarding the use of campaign funds by a candidate’s principal campaign committee to pay compensation to the candidate. Commissioners invited witnesses to submit materials in support of their testimony by 5:30 p.m. Eastern on March 29, 2023. Other interested members of the public may also submit comments on the rulemaking (REG 2021-01 (Candidate Salaries)).

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-03 (Colorado Republican State Central Committee) On March 21, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request by the Colorado Republican State Central Committee. The requestor, a state party committee, asks whether funds received and spent by its legal fund, established to challenge a state law, would be contributions and expenditures under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, and whether disbursements from the fund would be activity conducted in connection with an election. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than March 31, 2023) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete advisory opinion request, that is, by May 22, 2023.

Draft Advisory Opinion

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-02 (Humana Inc.) On March 24, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Enforcement

The Commission made public one Statement of Reasons, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7874 (Patriots of America PAC and Henry “Hank” Foley, in his official capacity as treasurer; Dan Backer in his personal capacity; Henry “Hank” Foley in his personal capacity; and Timothy Viens) On March 21, Commissioners Shana M. Broussard and Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement of Reasons.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on Sheila Jackson Lee for Congress. On March 23, the Commission issued the Final Audit Report of the Commission on Sheila Jackson Lee for Congress, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2020. The Commission approved findings related to Misstatement of Financial Activity, Receipt of Contributions in Excess of the Limit, and Receipt of Apparent Prohibited Contributions.

Litigation

Common Cause Georgia, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 22-3067) On March 17, the Commission filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and a Memorandum in Support of its Motion for Summary Judgment and in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

End Citizens United PAC v. FEC (Case No. 22-5277) On March 17, Plaintiff-Appellant filed a Reply Brief in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Ready for Ron v. FEC (Case No. 22-3282) On March 17, the Commission filed a Response to Plaintiff’s Supplemental Brief Opposing Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Plaintiff filed a Reply to the Commission’s Post-Argument Supplemental Brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Outreach

On March 21, Chair Dara Lindenbaum spoke at the William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, VA as a guest of its Election Law Society.

On March 21, Commissioner Weintraub spoke by videoconference at a Policy Forum, sponsored by the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University, on Understanding the Role and Amount of Money in American Elections.

On March 23, the Commission hosted an FECConnect OnTopic session 2023-2024 Contribution Limits.

Disclosure

The FEC’s electronic filing system will be offline for maintenance from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Saturday, March 25, 2023. During that time, users will be unable to submit, view or download electronically filed reports.

Press releases

FEC hears testimony on proposed changes to regulations regarding use of campaign funds to compensate candidates (issued March 22)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

March 28, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

March 30, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

April 18, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

April 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

March 29, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

April 11-12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for trade associations and their PACs

April 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host an FECConnect OnTopic session Navigating FEC Website Resources.

May 2-3, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for political party committees.

For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.

Upcoming reporting due dates

April 15: April Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

April 20: April Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

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 now 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.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

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 Twitter and YouTube

Follow @FEC on Twitter 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.