Trump fired the FEC chair, leaving campaign finance without a watchdog

The Federal Election CommissionFederal Election CommissionThe independent federal agency that enforces campaign finance laws for federal elections.Key ConceptFederal Election CommissionThe independent federal agency that enforces campaign finance laws for federal elections.Open conceptBookmark — the only federal agency that polices how campaigns raise and spend money — lost its ability to function in 2025. Trump fired Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub in February without cause, a move she called illegal. Republican Commissioner Allen Dickerson resigned on April 30. The departures left the FEC with just three of its six seats filled.

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, the FEC needs four commissioners — a majority of its six seats — to vote affirmatively before it can open investigations, approve settlements, issue advisory opinions, or adopt rules. With only three commissioners seated, the agency hit a hard quorumQuorumMinimum number of members required to conduct official businessKey ConceptQuorumMinimum number of members required to conduct official businessOpen conceptBookmark wall. It can't investigate complaints, hold hearings, levy fines, or even schedule formal meetings.

When quorum collapsed in May 2025, 388 pending enforcement cases stalled. Of those, 115 involved allegations that would hit the five-year FECA statute of limitations within 18 months — meaning those cases could expire without investigation or sanction if quorum isn't restored. The Brennan Center and Perkins Coie both documented the 115-case expiration exposure.

Trump's firing of Ellen Weintraub was almost certainly illegal. FECA doesn't include an explicit removal clause for FEC commissioners. Republican former FEC Chair Trevor Potter and the Campaign Legal Center both argued the firing violated separation of powers and Supreme Court precedent protecting independent agencyIndependent AgencyA federal agency designed to operate free from direct presidential control, typically led by commissioners who can only be removed for cause.Key ConceptIndependent AgencyA federal agency designed to operate free from direct presidential control, typically led by commissioners who can only be removed for cause.Open conceptBookmark officials. No president had previously removed an FEC commissioner from the opposing party without naming a replacement.

The 2025 quorum collapse is the fourth in the FEC's 50-year history. Previous collapses always left at least one commissioner from each party. In 2025, the two remaining commissioners after Dickerson's resignation — both Democrats — left zero Republican commissioners and zero bipartisan oversight of federal elections for the first time in agency history.

The FEC was designed with a six-commissioner structure and a four-vote quorum requirement specifically to prevent partisan capture. The even-number design forces bipartisan agreement before any enforcement action can proceed. The 2025 collapse inverted that design.

Dark moneyDark MoneyPolitical spending routed through nonprofits that aren't required to disclose their donors to the public.Key ConceptDark MoneyPolitical spending routed through nonprofits that aren't required to disclose their donors to the public.Open conceptBookmark — spending by nonprofit groups that don't disclose their donors — exceeded $1 billion in the 2024 federal election cycle, the highest total since Citizens United opened the door to such spending in 2010. Ellen Weintraub warned after her firing that "there's no cop on the beat" and that "we will once again see billions of dollars raised and spent in the upcoming elections with no meaningful enforcement."

Justice Kennedy's majority opinion in Citizens United (2010) explicitly assumed disclosure requirements would apply to the new outside spending the ruling permitted. But the FEC, frequently deadlocked along party lines, had already been declining to enforce disclosure rules against 501(c)(4) nonprofits for years before the 2025 quorum collapse. The collapse removes even the theoretical enforcement threat.

The FEC was created by Congress in 1975 after the Watergate scandal revealed that Nixon's 1972 campaign had raised and spent tens of millions in illegal contributions with no effective oversight. The agency's founding premise was that partisan enforcement of campaign financeCampaign FinanceThe system of rules and practices governing how money is raised, spent, and disclosed in political campaigns.Key ConceptCampaign FinanceThe system of rules and practices governing how money is raised, spent, and disclosed in political campaigns.Open conceptBookmark law is worse than no enforcement — hence the bipartisan structure. The 2025 collapse abandons that premise entirely.