Week of January 1-5, 2024

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-09 (Senator Catherine Cortez Masto) This week, the Commission made public two draft advisory opinions: Draft A and Draft B.

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-10 (Sony Pictures Television) On January 4, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion.

Enforcement

The Commission made public one closed case, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7908

COMPLAINANTS: Common Cause and Paul S. Ryan
RESPONDENTS: Marjorie Taylor Greene; and Stop Socialism Now PAC and Jason D. Boles, in his official capacity as treasurer (the PAC)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that in a December 2020 advertisement by the PAC, Greene, who was an incoming federal officeholder after winning election in 2020 to Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, solicited impermissible, non-federal funds to the PAC. The complaint further raised questions about whether the PAC coordinated the advertisement at issue with Greene or made an impermissible soft money solicitation if it were established, financed, maintained, or controlled by Greene, and whether the disclaimer for the advertisement contained accurate and incomplete information.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for Greene to pay a civil penalty of $12,000, and dismissed the allegations as to the PAC. Chairman Sean J. Cooksey and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson, James E. “Trey” Trainor, III, and Dara Lindenbaum issued a Statement of Reasons.

Regulations and agency procedures

REG 2021-01 (Candidate Salaries) On January 2, the Commission published a Final Rule and an Explanation and Justification in the Federal Register revising its regulations concerning the use of campaign funds by a candidate’s principal campaign committee to pay compensation to the candidate. The new rules make amendments to the criteria for determining whether a candidate is eligible to receive compensation from campaign funds, the maximum amount of compensation that a candidate may receive from campaign funds, and the period during which a candidate may receive compensation from campaign funds. The Final Rule is effective March 1, 2024.

REG 2013-01 (Technological Modernization) On January 2, the Commission published a Final Rule and an Explanation and Justification in the Federal Register that modernizes the Commission’s regulations in light of technological advances in communications, recordkeeping, and financial transactions. The new rules eliminate and update references to outdated technologies and address similar technological issues. The Final Rule is effective March 1, 2024.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 22-5339) On January 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a Per Curiam Judgment and Opinion affirming a decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that dismissed Plaintiff’s challenge of the Commission’s dismissal of an administrative complaint.

Palmer v. FEC (Case No. 23-5216) On January 3, Appellant filed a Response to the Commission’s Motion for Summary Affirmance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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.