Week of March 3 – 7, 2025
Commission meetings and hearings
No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.
Advisory Opinions
Request Received
Advisory Opinion Request 2025-04 (Government Accountability Institute) On March 5, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from the Government Accountability Institute. The requestor asks whether television and radio appearances by its staff and members, and its publication of books, articles, editorials, investigative reports, documentaries, a weekly podcast, short reels, and websites, qualify for the “media exemption” under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and Commission regulations. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following the publication of the request (no later than March 17) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by April 21, 2025.
Draft Advisory Opinions
Advisory Opinion Request 2025-01 (Sherrill) On March 6, the Commission made public two draft advisory opinions (Draft A and Draft B).
Enforcement
The Commission made public three closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Search System.
COMPLAINANT: Cris Ericson
RESPONDENTS: VTDigger; Necrason Group, PLLC; Peter Welch; Welch for Vermont and Julia Drost, in her official capacity as treasurer; Gerald Malloy; Gerald Malloy for US Senate, Limited and Thomas Datwyler, in his official capacity as treasurer; Vermont Public Co.; Public Broadcasting Service; and WCAX-TV (WCAX)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the complainant Cris Ericson, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate from Vermont in 2022, was wrongfully excluded from three general election debates between Peter Welch, the Democratic Party candidate, and Gerald Malloy, the Republican Party candidate, hosted by VTDigger, Vermont Public Co. and WCAX, resulting in prohibited in-kind corporate contributions from those respondents to Welch and Malloy.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the complaint.
COMPLAINANT: Steven S. Lamb
RESPONDENTS: Schiff for Senate and Jeremy Begun, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee); Adam Schiff; and City of Pasadena
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the mayor of Pasadena, CA invited 2024 Senate candidate Adam Schiff to ride in the mayor’s float in the 2024 Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade. The complaint alleged that this invitation constituted an excessive in-kind contribution from the City of Pasadena to the Committee, which was Schiff’s principal campaign committee, as it provided Schiff with free television coverage and the apparent endorsement of the City which, when taken together, had value in excess of applicable contribution limits.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the complaint.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: McSally PAC and Paul Kilgore, in his 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 remedy excessive contributions from individuals and multicandidate political actions committees totaling $232,708.88, and failed to timely remedy apparent prohibited contributions from possible corporations, limited liability companies without reported attribution information, and unregistered organizations totaling $13,232 for the 2020 primary and general elections. The Committee was formerly the principal campaign committee of Martha McSally, a candidate for U.S. Senate from Arizona in 2020.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $2,500.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Commission made public two closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Search System.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: VDUSS PAC and Lauren Decot Lee, 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 remedy excessive and prohibited 2022 primary and general election contributions, totaling $198,490.04, within the permissible timeframe.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) certify the closure of its federal account and to file an updated Termination Report with the Commission, and 2) pay a civil penalty of $14,875.
COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: SFA Fund, Inc and Katie Reid, 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 totaling $266,672.67 disclosed on its 2023 Year-End Report.
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 independent expenditure reporting procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting, 2) participate in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $13,325.
Administrative Fines
The Commission made public five closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.
AF 4750 Friends of Nikhil Bhatia and Tim Herbert, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.
AF 4768 Shrewsbury for Senate and Jodi Sine, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9,725.
AF 4770 Vogel for Congress and Kelsey Garnatz, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,595.
AF 4775 Clarence Lam for Congress and Edward Ned Carey, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,178.
AF 4776 Khairullah for Congress and Pricilla Nunez, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission terminated the proceedings and closed the file.
Audits
Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Working Families Party PAC (2022) On March 5, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the Working Families Party PAC covering campaign finance activity from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. The Commission approved a finding related to Misstatement of Financial Activity.
Regulations and agency procedures
REG 2024-06 Modification and Redaction of Contributor Information This week, the Commission made public comments it received on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2024. The Notice proposes 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. To access the comments, visit the Commission’s website and reference REG 2024-06.
Litigation
McDonald v. FEC (Case No. 25-153) On February 18, Plaintiff filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Democratic National Committee, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. (Case No. 25-587) On February 28, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings
March 11, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
March 13, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
April 1, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.
April 3, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
Upcoming educational opportunities
March 11-12, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for corporations and their PACs.
March 25-26, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.
April 2, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.
April 8-9, 2025: The Commission is scheduled to host a webinar for trade associations and their PACs.
For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.
Upcoming reporting due dates
March 20: March Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2025 Monthly Reporting schedule.
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 election results are 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.
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.
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- Myles Martin
- Deputy Press Officer
- Myles Martin