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HYDE-SMITH ADVOCATES WORKING QUORUM FOR FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
Senate Rules & Administration Committee Considers FEC Nominee Held Up Since 2017
VIDEO: Hyde-Smith Advocates Confirmation to Give FEC Working Quorum
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith today advocated for confirmation of a nominee to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in order to give the agency the working quorum it has lacked since August 2019.
Hyde-Smith addressed the need for a working quorum at the FEC during a Senate Committee on Rules and Administration hearing on the nomination of James (Trey) Trainor of Texas to serve as a FEC commissioner. The FEC, which now has three sitting members, needs at least four commissioners to administer and enforce federal campaign finance law.
“It is very vital that the Senate act quickly to get this nominee confirmed as quickly as possible. We must restore quorum at the Federal Election Commission so the agency can get back to business,” Hyde-Smith said.
Authorized as a six-member independent regulatory agency, the FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for U.S. House, Senate, president and vice president. However, the lack of a quorum has left the agency unable to conduct every day actions, such as holding hearings, making/amending/repealing rules, issuing advisory opinions, conducting investigations, and approving enforcement actions and audits.
Hyde-Smith questioned Trainor, initially nominated by President Trump in 2017, about his views on FEC commissioners’ recusals from certain cases, and his views on making the agency more transparent and accessible to the public.
