District Court issues opinion and order in Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (23-3163)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 23-3163). The court concluded that the Commission’s delay in acting on Plaintiffs’ Petition for Rulemaking was in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment and denied the Commission’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

In 2019, Plaintiffs petitioned the Commission to initiate a rulemaking regarding amendments made by Congress in 2014 to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act). These amendments to the Act created and established contribution limits for three new types of “separate, segregated account[s]” for national political party committees. The Commission has not initiated a rulemaking in response to the petition.

In 2023, Plaintiffs filed suit against the Commission, alleging that the Commission’s failure to act on Plaintiffs’ rulemaking petition was an unreasonable delay in violation of the APA.

In granting Summary Judgment in favor of Plaintiffs, the district court also directed the parties to file a status report by March 2, 2026, proposing a schedule for the agency to provide a final response to Plaintiffs’ petition for rulemaking.