Latest news with #FederalElectionCommission
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump allies taking on Thomas Massie after Kentucky Republican's recent opposition to the president
Donald Trump's allies have launched a super PAC that will seek to oust Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who opposed the president's domestic policy bill and criticized his strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. The move to target Massie demonstrates Trump and his allies' willingness to unleash his well-funded political organization on members of their own party who buck the president's agenda. The new group is called MAGA KY, according to a statement of organization filed with the Federal Election Commission. It shares a treasurer with Trump's main super PAC, MAGA Inc. Axios first reported the super PAC's formation, which the outlet said would be overseen by two key Trump allies: Chris LaCivita, who served as co-manager of Trump's 2024 campaign, and pollster Tony Fabrizio. Trump, LaCivita and James Blair, the president's deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, all have criticized Massie on social media in recent days. Trump called the Kentucky Republican a 'negative force' and a 'simple minded 'grandstander'' on his Truth Social platform after Massie criticized Trump's strikes as 'unconstitutional.' Massie was one of just two Republicans in the House to vote against the sweeping tax and spending bill that is the centerpiece of the president's domestic policy agenda. In recent days, he emerged as a vocal opponent of Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities without congressional authorization. 'I'm here to represent the base of the MAGA party that got Trump elected,' Massie told CNN's Manu Raju on 'Inside Politics Sunday.' 'Most of us were tired of wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and we were promised that we would not be engaging in another one.' The libertarian-leaning Republican recently joined Democrats in sponsoring a resolution to rein in the executive's power to go to war with Iran. Massie noted that US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s were 'at least' debated in Congress at the time with requests from then-President George W. Bush. 'It should have been declarations of war, but at least they did an Authorization of Use of Military Force,' Massie said. 'We haven't had that. This has been turned upside down.' On Monday evening, however, Massie indicated to journalists that he would not continue to push for the resolution if the ceasefire between Israel and Iran announced earlier that day by Trump holds. He argued, however, that Trump still violated the Constitution. 'There was another way to do this where you could still get the credit, where you do it constitutionally,' he said. Massie, who has represented his northern Kentucky seat since 2012, said he doesn't think Trump can knock him out by campaigning for a GOP primary opponent. Trump's 'endorsement's worth about 10 points, and I can sustain that,' Massie told Raju on Monday. Massie has vocally opposed multiple initiatives of Trump's second term. The lawmaker previously called the White House's insistence that Trump's major policy bill would not raise the US deficit 'a joke' — a comment that drew the president's ire. 'I don't think Thomas Massie understands government. I think he's a grandstander, frankly. … I think he should be voted out of office,' Trump told reporters ahead of a May meeting with House Republicans. Massie was also the sole GOP lawmaker who didn't vote for Mike Johnson as House speaker in January, despite a Trump intervention and encouragement from the president that Republicans needed to work as a team. CNN's Alison Main, Sarah Davis and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.
CNN
21-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
The DNC's cash crunch deepens as new filings show Republicans with a huge advantage
The Republican Party's main fundraising arm has nearly five times the cash on hand of its Democratic rival, new campaign reports show, underscoring the troubles faced by the Democratic National Committee and its embattled chairman, Ken Martin. The RNC entered June with about $72.4 million in cash reserves, nearly five times the $15 million stockpiled by the DNC, as the two parties gear up for gubernatorial races this fall and next year's costly midterm elections for Congress. The wide gap – revealed late Friday in filings with the Federal Election Commission – follows a tumultuous few months for Martin and the DNC that included a public feud with the party's former vice chair. The party's cash crunch is serious enough that party officials have weighed seeking a line of credit to help it stay afloat, a development first reported by The New York Times. Earlier this week, two union leaders who were longtime DNC members resigned from the party's leadership, shortly after vice chair David Hogg departed his post following months of acrimony with Martin. Democratic fundraisers interviewed by CNN say the string of bad news has undermined Martin and the DNC at a time when Democrats need a forceful voice to counter President Donald Trump and the Republicans who control all the levers of power in the federal government. One current DNC member said Democrats need be more 'aggressive' on messaging and increase coordination between Democrats' legal and political strategies. To fundraise, they said, Democrats need to be clear about what message the money is promoting. 'I wouldn't feel comfortable picking up the phone and asking for money,' the DNC member said. 'What's the message? What's the elevator pitch?' But party observers also acknowledge that any change in the DNC's chairmanship is unlikely given Martin's longtime ties to party members and strong base of support among state party chairs. Martin, who won his chair race overwhelmingly on the first ballot, has also nominated some of his allies to key committee roles while allowing other slots to be filled by DNC caucus members. That's led to some DNC members – including several who backed his opponents – with less prominent positions. DNC officials insist the party's finances are in good shape – relative to the same period in 2017, the year after Democrats lost to Trump the first time. And on Friday evening, they touted the money raised since Martin's ascension to the role in February as the most collected in the first four months of a new chairmanship. Right now, the committee is relying heavily on small-dollar donors – which officials point to as a sign of grassroots' backing for the party and its policies. More than 65% of the funds the DNC collected from individual contributors through the end of May came in amounts of $200 or less, compared to about 47% of individual donations to the RNC, the new filings show. 'What matters is winning elections, making Democrats competitive everywhere, expanding our tent, and putting our party on the right path,' Martin said in a statement. 'This is only the start, but it's a record-setting start that allows Democrats to meaningfully invest in every part of the country.' But the months of public intraparty feuding have clearly taken a toll. In April, then-vice chair David Hogg announced that he planned to help primary incumbent Democrats he deemed 'asleep at the wheel' – breaking with Martin's pledge to enshrine officer neutrality in the party's bylaws. Earlier this month, Hogg opted not to seek re-election to his position after the committee voted to redo his and another officer's election over an unrelated procedural issue. Days before that vote, a recording was leaked in which Martin said the feud had hurt his ability to do his job. 'I'm trying to get my sea legs underneath of me and actually develop any amount of credibility, so I can go out there and raise the money and do the job I need to to put ourselves in a position to win,' Martin said to Hogg in the leaked recording of a private May 15 DNC officer meeting, as reported by Politico. 'And again, I don't think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.' Then, this week, news broke that two labor leaders – American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and AFSCME president Lee Saunders – had departed the DNC. The two alluded to disagreements with Martin's leadership as reasons for leaving. Martin has strong ties with the state party chairs who make up a significant portion of the party's more than 400-person membership. As chair, he's campaigned in several down-ballot races, and the DNC announced it would send an additional $5,000 a month to states. Those investments have helped bolster his support with state party leaders. Even critics who say he hasn't done enough on fundraising or message acknowledge his efforts to build up the party's infrastructure. At the same time, strong messaging and infrastructure require strong fundraising. Martin and his allies have argued that the drama surrounding Hogg and the departure of the two top union officials is a distraction. The core mandate of the DNC, they say, is to win elections, which the party has done consistently this year. Democrats in state and local races have overperformed in more than 30 races and special elections, flipping some Republican-held state legislative seats and winning key contests like April's Wisconsin Supreme Court race. 'He is rolling up his sleeves. He is getting to work. He is focusing on the goal at hand,' Maria Cardona, a longtime DNC member and CNN political contributor, said of Martin. 'There have been, clearly, internal distractions which have been tough to deal with, but that has not taken away his focus from winning.' Cardona acknowledged that donors may be less willing to give to Democrats after 2024's election losses right now but said that's a natural consequence of electoral defeat. She expressed confidence that donors would come around. 'Donors are exhausted, donors are frustrated, donors are pissed off, right? They gave $2 billion last cycle, and we didn't win. So I understand that,' Cardona said. 'That's normal. That is something that happens every cycle, especially when you lose.'
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After Minnesota shootings, some Pa. lawmakers seek privacy, personal protection increase
The assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband June 14 has put a spotlight on the risks of serving in state offices, and Pennsylvania lawmakers are responding with several proposals to tighten security for themselves and their colleagues. One proposal by Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta would enable state candidates and elected officials to spend campaign funds on professional security. The Federal Election Commission recently decided to give congressional lawmakers and other federal officeholders this flexibility, and Kenyatta argues state officials should have the same option. More: Lawmakers call for more safety measures after Minnesota shooting 'This will ensure that public servants in our state have access to security services if needed, regardless of their means,' the Philadelphia Democrat wrote in a memo to colleagues. He's also suggesting that Pennsylvania State Police expand responsibilities to provide security for legislative leaders, the attorney general, state treasurer and state auditor general, in addition to the governor and lieutenant governor. A couple lawmakers want to enhance safety by shielding home addresses and other personal information about public officials. Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Hogan argues that, in the current climate of political tension, making addresses easily accessible to the public "presents a clear danger.' In the Minnesota shooting, the gunman reportedly showed up at the front doors of both state Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman, who had shared their addresses online. Hoffman and his wife were shot but survived. 'Stuff of nightmares': How investigators say attacks on Minn. lawmakers unfolded Reporters and voters often use information about a candidate's place of residence to verify that they live in the district they're running to represent. Hogan, R-Bucks, said his forthcoming bill will lay out a process for checking a candidates' eligibility for office without making their home addresses easily available to the public. A similar proposal advanced by Rep. Tim Briggs focuses primarily on data privacy for police officers, current and former judges and other people who work in the criminal justice system. The Montgomery County Democrat wants to give these officials options to prevent online dissemination of their addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, license plates and other identifying information. Briggs said that, in light of the Minnesota attacks, he'll also look at expanding these privacy protections to cover elected officials. Legislative language for these three proposals has not yet been released, and Melissa Bevan Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said she'd have to see the bills before weighing in. Still, she noted that Pennsylvania law already has certain provisions meant to protect officials, including one that exempts the addresses of judges and police officers from disclosure under the state's public records law. Privacy measures for elected leaders and other officials have to be carefully balanced against transparency requirements, she added. "I think legislatures across the country are struggling with this issue," she said. "I don't think it's an easy thing to legislate." And House Minority Leader Jesse Topper said that a large number of people usually know where state lawmakers live because they are prominent inside their legislative districts. "State reps are very well-known in our communities," he said. "I think, to a certain degree, there's only so much that can be done in that realm." Political violence has erupted in Pennsylvania several times in recent memory, including in July 2024 when Donald Trump, campaigning for a second term as president, narrowly survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler. Then, in April, an alleged arsonist set fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro's mansion while the Democrat was sleeping upstairs. Shapiro and his family escaped unharmed. The Harrisburg man later charged with the attack said in a 911 call that he was angry at Shapiro, who is Jewish, because of the Gaza-Israel conflict. Former Pennsylvania House Speaker Mark Rozzi recently revealed that he spent several months wearing a bulletproof vest in 2022, a period when he was being stalked by a man who thought Democrats were destroying America, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, told the outlet the experience influenced his decision to exit politics. Bethany Rodgers is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA lawmakers pitch safety measures following Minnesota shooting
The Hill
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Experts warn FEC is a watchdog lacking ‘bark or bite' with no quorum
Experts are sounding alarms over the status of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which has been largely paralyzed from performing much of its work. Former Commissioner Allen Dickerson's departure from the body at the conclusion of his term at the end of April gave the normally six-person FEC its third vacancy. A loss of quorum now prevents the FEC from carrying out many of its responsibilities, including holding meetings, conducting investigations and issuing penalties against potential violators. An apparent lack of urgency in filling the vacancies could cause a significant backlog of cases as the midterm elections approach. 'It really puts the country in a bind when the FEC doesn't have a working quorum, without enough commissioners to do its job, everything just piles up,' said Michael Beckel, the senior research director for the cross-partisan group Issue One, which educates and advocates on issues concerning U.S. democracy, elections and government. 'At the end of the day, without a quorum, the FEC is a watchdog that doesn't have the ability to bark or bite,' he said. The lack of quorum is a rarity in the agency's 50-year history but not entirely without precedent. The first instance occurred in 2008, toward the end of George W. Bush's presidency. Beckel said political pressure contributed to the end of that six-month gap in the FEC's work as Republican presidential nominee John McCain used public financing for his campaign and needed the agency to sign off on the funding, which it could only do with the quorum of at least four members. But no major party nominee has used public financing since then, and Beckel expressed doubt about a similar situation arising to create the same pressure. 'Without the same sort of political pressure existing now, it's hard to imagine what contours might arise that would lead to a logjam being broken,' he said. The other instances came in Trump's first term, in 2019 and 2020, with just a one-month respite between them. Complaints can still be submitted to the agency during this period, but the FEC can't enact fines or other penalties, issue new rules or advisories or conduct audits. Since the current loss of quorum began, two scheduled public meetings have been canceled. The pending situation could be similar to the one that Dickerson, Commissioner Shana Broussard and former Commissioner Sean Cooksey inherited when the Senate confirmed their nominations to the agency in December 2020, ending the last loss of quorum. The FEC last had six members in January. Dickerson told The Hill in an interview that much of the backlog dated back to the 2016 election cycle, and the commission's members had to make 'very difficult decisions,' taking into account a limited budget, about what cases they could move forward on and what needed to be let go given time constraints. He credited Broussard, who served as chair in 2021 while he served as vice chair, as being key to clearing the backlog. 'We had a shared commitment to ensuring that the commission was restored to functioning order, and that required dealing with, in many cases, old and complex cases that were really making it difficult for the agency to get back up and running,' Dickerson said. 'And that was a lot of hard work and late nights.' He said the extent of the problem that the current lack of quorum causes for the FEC will depend on how long it lasts and the number of credible complaints that are filed, adding that often complaints aren't well argued or are designed more for 'headlines' than the law. Dickerson said a lot of focus is on the FEC's enforcement docket, but he expressed more concern about its current inability to engage on rulemaking and requests for advisory opinions to assist the public. 'The closer one gets to an election, the more likely it is that the outside world is going to need guidance from the commission on novel questions of the law,' he said. 'And until a quorum is restored, that's a key function of the commission that may be undervalued by some people, which I think is maybe its most important function.' Cooksey stepped down from his post on the first day of Trump's term and expressed hope that Trump would nominate appointees to fill the positions of commissioners whose terms have expired. Commissioners are allowed to continue to serve on the FEC even after their term has expired until the Senate confirms a replacement. Two of the three current commissioners, Broussard and James Trainer III, are serving on expired terms. But Trump removed former Chair Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, in February and didn't lay out any process to replace her. Weintraub argued her unilateral removal by Trump was illegal, but her seat has been vacant since then. Weintraub said in an interview that Congress anticipated the problem of a new commissioner not being ready in time to replace an outgoing one in allowing commissioners to remain until a replacement is set. 'That is a normal process. That's what should have happened in my case, and had I been replaced in the normal course, rather than summarily moved, the commission would not be without a quorum today,' she said. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment about whether Trump has any plans to nominate additional commissioners soon. The FEC declined to comment on the vacancies and possible future nominations. While the lack of quorum has mostly occurred during the Trump administration, numerous administrations have allowed commissioners to continue to serve well past their term's expiration. Dickerson said he wouldn't consider this to be a sign of a lack of prioritization but an effect of the large size of the federal government and smallness of the FEC. 'We need to hope that those seats are filled. I think it's best for the republic to have six working commissioners with a range of views and with significant bipartisan buy-in on its decision-making,' he said. 'But I'm not going to characterize the decision-making of the government overall based upon an agency the size of the FEC.' Beckel said the loss of a quorum shouldn't be interpreted as an opportunity for candidates to 'push the envelope,' as willful violations of campaign finance law can still face prosecution from the Justice Department (DOJ) and complaints can still be filed to the FEC. 'There will still be watchdogs out there filing campaign finance complaints,' he said. 'There will still be partisan actors out there who are making sure that their opponents don't do anything awry.' But Weintraub and some reform groups expressed concern that bad actors could feel emboldened to commit violations. Omar Noureldin, the senior vice president of policy for the watchdog Common Cause, noted the DOJ's shrinking of its public integrity unit in the aftermath of the resignations of multiple officials over the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams being dropped. 'It's very clear, from what we've seen from the civil rights division to the public integrity section to the tax division, that enforcement is not going to be something that is a priority,' he said. 'There are state laws that regulate campaign finance and city laws for local elections and so those are still avenues by which we can hold some folks accountable,' Noureldin added. 'But it's not going to be at the scale that the FEC can do.' But some also were concerned about the potential members the Trump administration would choose. Erin Chlopak, the senior director of campaign finance for the Campaign Legal Center, pointed to Trump's executive order exerting control over federal agencies, including the FEC. She said this is 'completely contrary' to Congress's vision of the agency as independent. 'That independence is uniquely crucial to its ability to do its job,' she said. 'If that's going to be an issue, then that's yet another reason why restoration of the forum poses different concerns, sort of unique concerns in this moment.'
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Big setback for Trump as his high-stakes move to reshape American elections gets shot down hard
A judge blocked parts of Trump's order that would make voters show proof of citizenship. The judge said only Congress can make election rules and the order would make it harder for real voters to vote. Claims of noncitizen voting are very rare and already illegal. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads No change in election rules Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs A federal judge blocked parts of an order from Trump that wanted voters to show proof of citizenship when they vote. The judge said making it harder for people to vote would hurt eligible voters because it adds big obstacles before they can said Trump's order went too far because only Congress can set new election rules, not the president. She wrote that it is clear U.S. citizenship is needed to vote in federal elections and forms already require voters to say they are the question is if the president can force voters to show documents proving citizenship, even though Congress controls election rules. The law also says the Election Assistance Commission must ask states and the public before changing federal voter registration part of Trump's order that was blocked said the Election Assistance Commission must collect proof of citizenship info on the national voter registration form. The judge also stopped a White House rule that said the Defense Secretary must update absentee voting forms for overseas and military voters to require proof of citizenship and eligibility to vote in their judge said the Constitution or law does not give the president the power to make such rules. Since Trump lost the 2020 election, he and his supporters have focused on false claims of voter fraud. For example, a big audit in Georgia found only 20 noncitizens on the voter list out of 8.2 million of those 20 noncitizens, only nine voted years ago before voter ID was needed; the other 11 never voted. Critics say that rules like one-day voting and requiring ID on the same day would lower voter turnout and hurt democracy. These rules would especially make voting harder in big cities, where processing votes needs more workers and keeps focusing on noncitizens voting, which is already illegal and almost never happens. In Georgia, noncitizen votes made up only 0.00024% of all has not talked about fixing campaign finance laws, even though big corporations and billionaires influence politics more and more. Instead, Trump's allies want to make campaign finance laws weaker, raise donation limits, and stop the Federal Election Commission from enforcing election rules only Congress has the power to set election noncitizen voting is very rare and illegal.
