FEC: An Agency Tasked with Regulating First Amendment Activity

January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

The Federal Election Commission is the independent agency charged with enforcing federal campaign finance law and enacting campaign finance regulations. The FEC was created after the Nixon Administration’s Justice Department pursued criminal campaign finance charges against the President’s critics. In light of that effort, Congress correctly rejected the idea of letting a future president effectively control a government agency tasked…

Third Parties Are Excluded from the Presidential Debates – And Punished by Campaign Finance Laws

October 22, 2020   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  , , ,

It’s not just the debates that advantage major party candidates: The entire campaign finance ecosystem has been purposefully crafted to maintain the two-party duopoly. ...

CREW v. FEC’s Impact on Independent Expenditures and Donor Privacy, Explained

September 3, 2020   •  By Brad Smith   •  , ,

Until then, the D.C. Circuit’s opinion in CREW v. FEC should not be read as requiring forced disclosure of all donors to nonprofit groups, ...

Federal Court Follows Institute for Free Speech’s Advice in CLC v. FEC

June 11, 2020   •  By Tyler Martinez   •  ,

Last week, we detailed why we filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the FEC in Campaign Legal Center v. Federal Election Commission. ...

When Defending the Rule of Law Means Defending the FEC

June 1, 2020   •  By Tyler Martinez   •  , ,

In the early hours of the morning on May 29, 2020, the Institute for Free Speech did something many would not expect: we filed ...

Campaign Legal Center v. Federal Election Commission

May 29, 2020   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  ,

The Institute for Free Speech filed an amicus brief in this case to apprise the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of ...

Senators Merkley and Udall Tout Legislation that Hands Power to the Politicians

March 30, 2020   •  By Alex Baiocco   •  , , ,

Senators Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall describe H.R. 1, the so-called “For the People Act,” as “legislation to put power back in the hands ...

The Left has one problem with Trump’s FEC nominee: He’s a Republican

March 10, 2020   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

This piece originally appeared in the Washington Examiner on March 10, 2020.    In politics, you’re often damned if you do and damned if ...

Foresight is 20/20: Free Speech Developments to Follow This Year

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February 12, 2020   •  By Alex Baiocco   •  , , , , ,

A number of trends that will continue to unfold in 2020 have the potential to significantly impact Americans’ political speech rights. As policymakers, pundits, ...

We need to clean house at the Federal Election Commission

October 22, 2019   •  By Zac Morgan   •  ,

The country deserves a functioning campaign finance agency, especially as we head into the 2020 campaign season.

Comments to FEC on REG 2019-01

September 30, 2019   •  By David Keating   •  , ,

The Institute for Free Speech respectfully submits the following comments regarding the Notification of Availability on a Petition for Rulemaking to amend the definition ...

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