The Bush campaign lost the first round of a legal bid to force the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to act on a complaint it filed against political committees opposing his re-election, but attorneys for the campaign promised to pursue the issue. Meanwhile, the House sponsors of campaign finance reform legislation filed suit against the FEC seeking stricter rules regulating political committees. On Sept. 1 the Bush campaign sued the FEC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for an injunction forcing the FEC to act on the campaign's complaint challenging the legality of soft money spending by independent groups working to defeat President Bush: The Media Fund, America Coming Together, and MoveOn.org's Voter Fund. The legal issues are the same as those debated throughout the year in FEC rulemakings and Advisory Opinions. See www.nonprofitadvocacy.org for more information. The court ruled against the Bush campaign on Sept. 15, saying the law does not permit courts to intervene unless the FEC delay is unreasonable. Counsel for the FEC noted that the campaign's complaint is 550 pages long and "the issues they raise are complex and fact-intensive, and involve controversial and unsettled legal and constitutional questions." They also argued that the campaign would not suffer irreparable harm, a required threshold before an injunction can be issued, because campaign finance laws are "designed to protect the public interest" and not "to protect a candidate from public criticism, or from the registration of voters who might support his or her opponent." Attorneys for the Bush-Cheney campaign argued the case is unusual because outside groups have spent $80 million on this election and are still active. The judge rejected the campaign's argument, even though he said the FEC is notoriously slow in resolving complaints, noting "that's the way Congress set it up and apparently that's the way Congress likes it." The Bush campaign said it will pursue the issue, but it was not clear whether or not they will appeal the ruling. The decision means the court will not force the groups in question to cease their activities before the election. The issue of what independent groups should be regulated by the FEC remains in the courts however, as the result of a federal lawsuit filed Sept. 14 by Reps. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Martin Meehan (C-MA), House sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The suit asks the court to force the FEC to approve stricter regulations for independent political committees than those approved by the FEC last month. For a summary of the new rule, see the August 23, 2004 OMB Watcher.