FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an
independent agency that was established by
the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (88 Stat. § 1280 [2
U.S.C.A. § 431 et seq.]). The 1974 amend-
ments—passed after President RICHARD M.
NIXON resigned in the wake of the WATERGATE
scandals, which included charges of abuse of
power and OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE involving
campaign contributions—set out financial rules
governing campaigns for federal office. The
FEC was designed to act both as a clearinghouse
for information on federal campaign laws and as
the enforcer of campaign laws.
The FEC is composed of six commissioners
who are appointed by the president with the
advice and consent of the Senate. The act also
provides for three statutory officers—the staff
director, the general counsel, and the inspector
general—who are appointed by the commission.
The FEC’s main responsibility is to enforce
federal campaign financing laws. Thus, its scope
is limited to overseeing the financing of congres-
sional, senatorial, and presidential election cam-
paigns. The Federal Election Campaign Act, as
amended in 1974, was intended to limit severely
the amount of financial contributions made by
wealthy individuals, and to place limits on the
amounts that candidates could spend on their
campaigns. In addition, the law required public
disclosure of all campaign contributions and
established public financing for presidential
campaigns.
Since the law was enacted in 1971, the FEC
has been faced with lawsuits challenging the
constitutionality of its campaign-financing pro-
visions. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buckley v.
Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S. Ct. 612, 46 L. Ed. 2d 659
(1976), complicated the work of the FEC when
it ruled that the 1974 act’s limitation on cam-
paign expenditures was unconstitutional. The
Court did uphold the limit of $1,000 for indi-
vidual contributions, but ruled that candidates
could spend as much as they wished of their per-
sonal fortunes on their campaigns.
Because of loopholes in the law and the
Buckley decision, there has been a tremendous
growth in POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES
(PACs) as vehicles for major campaign spending.
PACs are special organizations formed by labor,
industry, the professions, and other interest
groups that are not identified with individual
candidates. PACs are not bound by the individ-
ual-contribution restriction; therefore, their
political influence has risen with their large con-
tributions.
The FEC administers and enforces the law
with respect to limits and prohibitions on con-
tributions and expenditures made to influence
federal elections. In addition, it enforces the
requirement that candidates must disclose
where campaign money comes from and how it
is spent. This requirement has created a com-
plex set of rules that the FEC must administer.
The FEC places reports on the public record
within 48 hours after they have been received,
and computerizes the data contained in the
reports.
If the FEC discovers irregularities or viola-
tions of the law, either through its own internal
audits or through a complaint filed by the pub-
lic, it has the authority to seek civil enforcement
of the law. The FEC first seeks compliance
