End Citizens United Action Fund (ECU) President Tiffany Muller issued the following statement on news that FEC Commissioner Caroline Hunter resigned her post at the FEC to join the legal team at Koch-funded group, leaving the Federal Election Commission (FEC) without a quorum again:
“While the lack of quorum at the FEC presents a major problem for election transparency and accountability, we’re thrilled to hear that Big Money’s favorite FEC Commissioner Caroline Hunter has resigned. Throughout her tenure at the FEC, Hunter has sided with Big Money and corporate special interests and allowed them to manipulate and deteriorate the integrity of our elections. Now, she’s cashing in on her knowledge of the broken system to join the legal team of a Koch-funded group.
“A full and functioning FEC is a vital organ in our democracy. The Commission’s work in upholding election laws and holding candidates and outside groups accountable is critical to ensuring that our elections are free from corruption and foreign interference. As we quickly approach November, the FEC won’t be able to take action on even the most basic and essential elements, like making rules, conducting audits, offering official guidance to political committees, and imposing fines.
“It’s a recipe for disaster heading into the most expensive and consequential election of our lifetime.”
The For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 949) would make crucial reforms to the FEC to ensure that the agency is not mired in partisan gridlock and has real enforcement power, but Senator McConnell’s obstruction is once again preventing progress. The provisions laid out in H.R. 1 include restructuring the FEC to break gridlock and making the FEC’s civil penalty authority permanent.
###