District court grants summary judgment in CREW v. FEC (22-0035)

On March 17, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (the court) denied the FEC’s motion for voluntary remand and granted Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s (CREW) motion for summary judgment.

Background

In response to an administrative complaint filed by CREW, the Commission found reason to believe that Freedom Vote failed to organize, register, and report as a political committee and that it failed to include a disclaimer on a television advertisement, and the agency began an investigation. Two years later, on November 9, 2021, the Commission closed the file.

In January 2022, CREW filed suit challenging the FEC’s dismissal of its administrative complaint against Freedom Vote. Subsequently, the three controlling commissioners issued their justification and explained that their votes were at least partially informed by constraints on the FEC’s resources.

Initially, the Commission did not appear to defend the lawsuit, and the clerk entered default. CREW moved to compel discovery and ultimately requested attorney’s fees, which the court denied. CREW moved for summary judgment or, in the alternative, default judgment. The Commission moved for a voluntary remand without entering judgment in CREW’s favor.

Analysis

The court began by vacating the entry of default against the FEC. The court noted, however, that under the principles of administrative law, when agencies act, they must give an explanation for their actions at the time that they take them. The court then ruled that the FEC’s dismissal of CREW’s complaint was contrary to law because the Commission “failed to explain its actions its actions at the time of the dismissal.”

Based on the foregoing, the court granted CREW’s motion for summary judgment and denied the FEC’s motion for voluntary remand. The court stated that the Commission “will have 30 days to take further action on CREW’s complaint and, should it decide not to pursue the complaint further, dismiss it with an adequate, contemporaneous explanation for the dismissal.”

Resources

• CREW v. FEC (22- 0035) litigation page