A federal appeals court has ordered attorneys for the congressional sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act to file a response to the Federal Election Commission's petition for further review of court decisions striking down the FEC's controversial regulations implementing BCRA (Shays v. FEC, D.C. Cir., No. 04-5352, 9/2/05). The Sept. 2 order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit gave the BCRA sponsors, Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Martin Meehan (D-Mass.), until Sept. 17 to file their response. Legal experts said the move could mean that at least some of the D.C. Circuit judges are considering granting the FEC's request for an en banc appeal of the July decision by a three-judge panel in Shays v. FEC, striking the BCRA rules. Federal appeals courts rarely grant requests for en banc review by a full circuit court. A majority of the active judges in a circuit must vote to grant such a review.