Federal Election Commission facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Federal Election Commission

Agency overview
Formed	October 15, 1974; 50 years ago (1974-10-15)
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Status	Independent regulatory agency
Headquarters	1050 First St NE Washington, D.C., U.S.
Employees	509 (2018)
Annual budget	$74.5 million USD (FY 2022)
Agency executives	Shana M. Broussard, Chair James E. Trainor III, Vice Chair
Key document	Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 (Pub.L. 93-443 88 Stat. 1263)

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government. It makes sure that rules about how money is used in political campaigns are followed. The FEC also helps oversee federal elections in the United States.

It was created in 1974 to:

• Share information about how campaigns get and spend money.
• Make sure people follow rules about how much money they can give to campaigns.
• Oversee public money given to presidential candidates.

The FEC is led by six commissioners. These people are chosen by the President and approved by the Senate.

Sometimes, the FEC has not been able to do its job fully. This happens when there are not enough commissioners to make decisions. This is called a "lack of quorum." For example, from late 2019 to late 2020, the FEC often lacked enough members to vote on important issues. This meant many cases could not be finished. Also, because there are an equal number of members from the Republican and Democratic parties, they sometimes disagree. This can stop important investigations from moving forward.

Since May 1, 2025, the FEC has again been unable to function properly because it only has three commissioners.

How the FEC Started and Who Leads It

A Brief History of the FEC

The FEC was created in 1974. Its job was to enforce laws about how political campaigns raise and spend money. At first, members were chosen by both the United States Congress and the US president. This showed that Congress wanted to keep a lot of control.

However, in 1976, the Supreme Court made a big decision in a case called Buckley v. Valeo. The Court said that FEC commissioners are important government officials. This meant they had to be chosen by the President and approved by the Senate, just like other top officials. After this, Congress changed the law to follow the Supreme Court's decision.

Over the years, the FEC has sometimes struggled to make decisions. This is because its members often have different political views. The FEC has even stopped working completely a few times due to a lack of enough commissioners. This happened in 2008, and again in 2019, 2020, and 2025.

Who Are the Commissioners?

The FEC has six commissioners. The President chooses them, and the Senate must approve them. Each commissioner serves for six years. However, they can keep serving even after their term ends until a new person is approved. By law, no more than three commissioners can be from the same political party. This rule is meant to keep the commission balanced.

One commissioner is chosen to be the "chair" each year. The chair's job rotates among the commissioners. A commissioner usually serves as chair only once during their six-year term. However, if they serve longer than six years, they might be chair more than once. For example, Ellen L. Weintraub was chair multiple times.

As of 2025, an FEC commissioner earned $158,500 per year.

Challenges During Recent Administrations

The FEC has faced challenges in recent years. After a commissioner resigned in March 2017, the commission had fewer than six members for a long time. When another commissioner resigned in August 2019, the FEC had only three commissioners. This meant it could not make most of its important decisions. Without enough members to vote, the FEC could not:

• Vote on complaints about campaign finance.
• Give official advice on campaign finance rules.

By May 2020, there were hundreds of cases waiting for the FEC to act. In May 2020, a new commissioner was approved, bringing the total to four. This allowed the FEC to start working again for a short time. However, another commissioner resigned in July 2020, and the FEC again lacked enough members. In December 2020, three new members were approved, which helped the FEC get back to work.

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump began his second term as President. On February 6, 2025, Ellen L. Weintraub was removed from her position. She has said that her removal was against the law. Since May 1, 2025, the FEC has only had three commissioners, meaning it cannot make most decisions. Some people believe this is done on purpose to stop investigations into campaign financing.

On July 1, 2025, Shana M. Broussard became the chair of the FEC for the rest of the year. James E. Trainor III became the vice-chair.

What the FEC Does

Main Responsibilities

The FEC's main job is to enforce federal campaign finance laws. This means it:

• Enforces limits on how much money can be given to campaigns.
• Manages the system where campaigns report their money.
• Investigates and takes action when rules are broken. These investigations often start from complaints by other candidates, political groups, or the public.
• Checks a small number of campaigns and groups to make sure they are following the rules.
• Manages the public funding programs for presidential candidates.

The FEC also publishes reports that show how much money campaigns for the Senate, House of Representatives, and President have raised and spent. These reports also list all donors who gave more than $200, including their address, employer, and job. This information goes back to 1980. The law says that information about individual donors from FEC reports cannot be sold or used to ask for political or charity donations.

The FEC also works to teach candidates, campaigns, and political parties about the laws they need to follow.

How Decisions Are Made and Why They Can Be Difficult

For the FEC to make important decisions, a certain number of commissioners must agree. These important powers include:

• Starting investigations.
• Reporting rule-breaking to law enforcement.
• Reaching agreements with candidates.
• Taking legal action in court to enforce campaign finance rules.
• Giving official advice on campaign finance issues.
• Creating new campaign finance rules.

The law says there must be an even number of commissioners, and no more than three can be from the same political party. However, there is no way to break a tie if commissioners disagree. Also, at least four commissioners must be present for the FEC to make a decision. This means that on difficult issues, commissioners from both parties must agree for a decision to be made.

Some people say that having an even number of commissioners and needing four votes for a decision makes it easy for the FEC to get stuck. This is especially true when political parties strongly disagree.

Between 1996 and 2006, the FEC only tied on about 2.4% of its cases. But in 2008 and 2009, this number jumped to 13%. By 2014, it was 24.4%, and by 2016, commissioners tied on over 30% of important votes. This means the FEC has been less able to enforce the rules.

Current Commissioners

Related Topics

• Campaign finance in the United States
• Elections in the United States
• Federal Election Campaign Act

Important Court Cases

• Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

See also

In Spanish: Comisión Federal de Elecciones para niños