Federal Election Commission (FEC)

FEC Loses Policymaking Quorum After Commissioner Resignation

| Importance: 8/10

Commissioner Allen Dickerson resigned on April 30, 2025, leaving the FEC with only three members and no quorum. Combined with Trump’s February firing of Ellen Weintraub and Sean Cooksey’s January resignation, the FEC cannot investigate complaints, conduct audits, levy fines, issue rules …

Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioner Allen Dickerson (resigned) Commissioner Ellen Weintraub (fired by Trump) Commissioner Sean Cooksey (resigned) Donald Trump +3 more election-oversight fec-quorum enforcement-shutdown regulatory-capture campaign-finance
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Supreme Court Citizens United Decision Unleashes Unlimited Corporate Spending

| Importance: 10/10

Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that corporations can spend unlimited amounts on elections through independent expenditures, enabling creation of Super PACs and dark money networks. The decision dramatically reshaped campaign finance, allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited funds on independent …

Supreme Court Citizens United Federal Election Commission (FEC) Justice Anthony Kennedy Justice John Paul Stevens dark-money campaign-finance supreme-court corporate-power first-amendment +1 more
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Federal Election Commission Begins Operations, Institutionalizing Corporate PAC Framework

| Importance: 8/10

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) commences operations with six commissioners appointed by President Gerald Ford, establishing the regulatory framework that will institutionalize and legitimize the explosion of corporate political action committees following the 1974 FECA amendments. Created as …

Federal Election Commission (FEC) President Gerald Ford fec corporate-pacs campaign-finance regulatory-framework feca
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FECA Amendments Enable Corporate PAC Formation, Triggering 1,600% Growth

| Importance: 9/10

Congress enacts amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), legitimizing the role of corporations and business-related groups in federal elections and inadvertently triggering explosive growth in corporate political action committees that fundamentally shifts campaign finance in favor of …

U.S. Congress Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign-finance corporate-pacs feca powell-memo political-money
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