Week of December 18 – 22, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Opinion Issued

Advisory Opinion 2023-08 (Cowboy Analytics) On December 20, the Commission approved by tally vote an advisory opinion in response to a request from Cowboy Analytics. The Commission concluded that Cowboy Analytics may form a political committee as proposed in its request and determined that (1) funds deducted from earmarked contributions by the committee to cover its costs would be contributions to the committee and not contributions to the designated candidate, and (2) the initial payment for the production and distribution of merchandise would not constitute an in-kind contribution from the committee to the candidates receiving the earmarked contributions. The Commission was unable to reach a response by the required four affirmative votes on the questions of whether the committee would have to report the costs of producing and distributing political merchandise that includes express advocacy as independent expenditures and whether the committee would have to report its costs of solicitations for earmarked contributions that contain express advocacy as independent expenditures.

Audits

Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Oklahoma Leadership Council. On December 22, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Oklahoma Leadership Council, covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020. The Commission approved findings related to Misstatement of Financial Activity, Increased Activity, Contributions from Unregistered Political Organizations, Reporting of Debts and Obligations, Recordkeeping for Communications, Recordkeeping for Employees, and Reporting of Apparent Independent Expenditures.

Regulations and agency procedures

On December 19, the President signed S. 2747 into law, which extends the Commission’s Administrative Fine Program (AFP) for an additional 10 years, to cover reports through December 31, 2033. The AFP authorizes the Commission to assess civil monetary penalties for certain violations of the reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act).

Litigation

National Republican Senatorial Committee, et al. v. FEC, et al. (Case No. 22-639) On December 15, Plaintiffs filed a Brief Concerning Proposed Findings of Fact and the Commission filed a Partial Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion to Certify Question to En Banc Court of Appeals and a Brief in Support of Its Proposed Findings of Fact and Responses to Plaintiffs’ Proposed Findings of Fact and on December 20, Plaintiffs filed a Supplemental Reply in Support of the Motion to Certify Question to the En Banc Court of Appeals in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Ready to Win v. FEC (Case No. 23-5161) On December 18, the Plaintiff-Appellant filed a Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Public Disclosure

On December 21, the Office of the Inspector General released an Investigative Summary.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

January 9, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 11, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

January 23, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 25, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

January 17, 2024: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for political action committees and party committees.

January 24, 2024: The Commission will host 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: Year-End Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Semi-Annual, Quarterly and Monthly Reporting schedules.

Additional research materials

Election Dates: The Commission has posted Preliminary 2024 Presidential and Congressional Primary Dates, which are subject to change.

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.

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.