Court grants plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment in Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (23-3163)

On January 30, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (the court) granted summary judgment to Campaign Legal Center and OpenSecrets (plaintiffs). Plaintiffs had filed suit alleging the Commission unlawfully failed to act on or respond to their rulemaking petition.

Background

In August 2019, plaintiffs petitioned the FEC to initiate rulemaking regarding a set of amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) enacted as part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015. Those amendments allowed national party committees to establish “separate, segregated” accounts for presidential nominating conventions, party headquarters buildings, and legal proceedings.

On October 20, 2023, plaintiffs filed suit alleging that the Commission unlawfully failed to act on or respond to their rulemaking petition. The plaintiffs sought injunctive and declaratory relief under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and asked the court to declare the FEC’s alleged failure to act as a violation of the APA and to order the Commission to issue a final decision within 30 days.

Analysis

Under the APA, an agency must “proceed to conclude a matter presented to it” within “a reasonable time.” Based on the balance of factors set forth in Telecommunications Research & Action Center v. FCC (TRAC), 750 F.2d 70 (D.C. Cir. 1984), the court concluded that the Commission’s delay in answering plaintiffs’ petition for rulemaking is unreasonable and thus violates the APA. However, the court did not require the Commission to issue a final decision within 30 days. Instead, the court ordered the parties to meet and file a joint status report that proposes a reasonable schedule for the Commission to provide a final response to plaintiffs’ petition.

The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and denied the FEC’s motion for summary judgment. The parties will file a joint status report by March 2, 2026, which proposes a schedule for the agency to provide a final response to the plaintiffs’ petition.

Resources

• Campaign Legal Center, et. al v. FEC (23-3163) litigation page