Week of September 18 – 22, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

On September 20, Chair Dara Lindenbaum, Vice Chair Sean J. Cooksey, Commissioners Shana M. Broussard, Allen Dickerson, James E. “Trey” Trainor, III, and Ellen L. Weintraub, and FEC Inspector General Christopher Skinner testified at a hearing titled “Oversight of the Federal Election Commission,” held by the Committee on House Administration. Testimony submitted for the hearing, including Joint Testimony from all six Commissioners, is available on the House of Representatives website. A recording of the hearing is available on YouTube.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1113

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Latino Victory Fund and Maria R. Gonzalez, 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 a 24-Hour Report totaling $34,657.34 to support an independent expenditure disclosed on its 2022 30-Day Post-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify the implementation and distribution of a policy document to be provided to external compliance vendors detailing independent expenditure reporting procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting, and 2) pay a civil penalty of $2,850.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public two closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4561 Friends of Jim Clyburn and James Bennett, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,072.

AF 4658 Fetterman for PA and Jay Petterson, in official capacity of treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,701.

Litigation

CREW v. FEC (Case No. 22-3281) On September 20, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order, denying Motions to Dismiss by the Commission and by Intervenor American Action Network and ordering that the case be stayed pending the decision of the D.C. Circuit in CREW v. American Action Network.

Outreach

On September 21, Communications Specialist David Garr discussed campaign finance disclosure rules and the role of the Commission with a South Asian delegation visiting the United States as part of an International Republican Institute program.

On September 22, Commissioner Broussard participated in AI for the Culture, a panel discussion at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC.

On Sept. 22, Commissioner Weintraub spoke at an event sponsored by the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University on social media and elections.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

October 3, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

October 5, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

October 17, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

October 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

September 27, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Separate Segregated Funds at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

October 4, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

October 25, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Candidate and Political Party Committees at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

October 15: October Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Quarterly Reporting schedule.

October 20: October Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

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 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.