Week of December 16 – 20, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Commission made public one closed case this week, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Search System.

ADR 1180

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Big Red Leadership PAC and Robert F. Carlin, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to timely file one 48-Hour Report to support two independent expenditures, disseminated on February 29, 2024, totaling $269,156.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify the implementation and distribution of a policy document to be provided to its compliance vendors and staff detailing the Committee’s procedures to ensure filed FEC reports are timely and accurately submitted, 2) certify that a representative participated in an FEC conference, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $13,450.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2024-06 (Requests to Modify or Redact Contributor Information): Notice of Proposed Rulemaking On December 19, the Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register seeking public comment on proposed procedures for contributors or their agents to request the Commission — in certain limited circumstances when there is a reasonable probability the contributor may face threat, harassment or reprisal — to modify or redact, in whole or in part, certain contributor information from a disclosure report or statement that has been filed with the Commission. The Commission seeks comments on the Notice, which may be submitted via the Commission’s website. Comments are due by February 18, 2025.

Litigation

Berman v. FEC (Case No. 23-1017) On December 12, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 19-2336) On October 30, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for an Order Declaring that Defendant has failed to Conform to the Remand Order; on November 25 the Commission filed an Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for An Order Declaring Defendant has failed to Conform to the Remand Order; and on December 13 Plaintiffs filed a Reply in Further Support of Motion for an Order Declaring that Defendant has Failed to Conform in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

FEC v. Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No. 9, et al. (Case No. 24-1450) On December 13, the parties filed a Joint Stipulation for Entry of Consent Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and on December 16, the court entered Consent Judgment providing for the defendants to pay a total joint civil penalty of $240,000 and to perform certain other remedial measures. The Court also unsealed the Unredacted Complaint for Declaratory, Injunctive, and Other Appropriate Relief filed by the Commission on May 17, 2024.

Outreach

On December 16, Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor, III spoke on recent developments in campaign finance law at the Legislative and Campaign Law CLE event in Austin, TX.

Press releases

District Court enters Consent Judgment in FEC v. Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No. 9, et al.; imposes $240,000 civil penalty (issued December 17)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

January 9, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 28, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 30, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

January 15, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host Year-End reporting and FECFile webinars for political action committees (PACs) and party committees.

January 22, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host Year-End reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

January 31, 2025: Year-End Reports are due. For more information, see the 2024 Quarterly and Monthly Reporting schedules.

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 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.

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 X and YouTube

Follow @FEC on X 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.