McCain and Feingold Introduce a Bill to Replace the FEC

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a bill (S.1648) on Aug. 7 to replace the current Federal Election Commission (FEC) with a new three member administrative body, called the Federal Election Administration. The measure would replace the current six member bipartisan FEC with a three member agency. The bill is the latest version of a similar proposal which was first introduced in 2003, but no congressional action has ever taken place. The chairman of the entity would have a longer term of ten years, while the other two members would serve six year terms.

In addition, the commissioners must have a background in law enforcement, and can not have been an elected official or candidate for public office within the past four years. Former FEC commissioners are disqualified if they served on the FEC while term limits were imposed, which began in 1997.

The odd number of members is intended to try and end deadlocked votes. No more than one individual could come from the same political party, and therefore the third member would be either a member of a third party or unaffiliated with a political party. It is hard to say whether a new administration would lead to more enforcement, because in the end, the campaign finance rules would remain just as perplexing.

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