As of this week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is down to five sitting commissioners, making the work of the commission even more challenging. In a February 19, 2017, letter written to President Donald Trump, Democratic commissioner Ann Ravel resigned from the commission, leaving it with a republican majority. Ravel’s resignation makes it even more difficult for the divided commission to obtain the four votes required to take most major actions.
Ravel focused her resignation on a critique of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which she claims has allowed political campaigns to be successful with the help of “unlimited, often dark, money.” Ravel hopes that President Trump will act on his criticism of wealthy donor and super PAC contributions’ impact on campaigns and prioritize campaign finance reform. With one of her last messages as a commissioner, Ravel insisted that the “campaign finance system should promote citizen engagement and participation in the political process instead of disenchantment with democracy.”
None of the remaining five members of the FEC are serving their appointed terms. All five are continuing to serve in their expired terms until their replacements are named and confirmed by the Senate.
