The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) released the following statement today after Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced legislation that would replace the bipartisan FEC with an election czar.
The legislation, S. 1648, would create a three-member Federal Election Administration. The chairman would wield near absolute authority for a ten year term.
“Any Republican who would agree to let President Obama appoint an election czar for the next ten years would be out of his mind, just as any Democrat would have been crazy to let President Bush do so,” said CCP Chairman Bradley A. Smith.
“The FEC is the one commission that is evenly bipartisan because it regulates politics. The potential for abuse is too great for either party to trust the other,” Smith said. “The real goal of Sens. McCain and Feingold — and their allies in the ‘reform’ community — is to remove FEC commissioners who don’t share their views on FEC enforcement in favor of an election czar who would disregard established law and Supreme Court precedent on political speech.”
The bill would virtually ensure that any Federal Election Administration board members would sympathize with the “reform” community. No nominee could have served on the FEC, been a candidate or officeholder for four year or worked for a political party. The position would also require at least five years of law enforcement experience, favoring bureaucrats over those with practical experience in campaign finance.
A version of this bill was introduced in 2003 and 2006. This bill continues a trend of improper congressional pressure on the FEC. Sens. McCain and Feingold announced a hold on FEC nominee John J. Sullivan in July because of their misguided view that the FEC isn’t endorsing their version of campaign finance “reform” in its enforcement actions.
