In March the Federal Election Commission (FEC) decided against moving forward with an investigation into the 501(c)(6) organization Americans for Job Security (AJS) because of a deadlocked 3-3 vote by the six commissioners. Public Citizen filed a complaint in 2007 charging that the group should be considered a political action committee. According to Public Citizen, the group's ads were meant to influence an election, and therefore were a violation of their tax-exempt status. Trade associations are prohibited from conducting activities that seek to influence elections as their primary purpose. According to BNA Money and Politics, ($$) Republican FEC commissioners voted to dismiss the case because they considered the ads to be issue ads and did not contain express advocacy. In response to such inaction, Public Citizen has reportedly decided to file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the FEC's dismissal of the case, "because the FEC did not explain why it dropped the case and because the dismissal violated campaign finance laws requiring AJS to be regulated as a political committee."

The FEC also recently decided to drop two other cases against 527 organizations. The Lantern Project, which ran ads critical of former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) during the 2006 election, will not be investigated after FEC staff attorneys recommended dropping the complaint and the commissioners voted in support of the recommendation. The FEC notes that the ads were critical of Santorum, but "they focus on issues, and never mention Santorum's candidacy or his political opponent."

A 527 active in the last election, the American Leadership Project (ALP), has also escaped any further inquiry from the FEC. Politico covers the ALP story here.