Washington Watchdog Lacks Quorum as 7th District Complaint Waits

The federal agency charged with policing campaign finance rules cannot act on a complaint filed against Democrat Rebecca Bennett before Election Day on Nov. 3.

The Federal Election Commission was created by Congress after the Watergate scandal. It audits campaigns, processes complaints, advises political groups on compliance, and compiles spending data. The agency has lacked a quorum since May 2025, its longest such lapse in history. It currently has two commissioners, four are needed to conduct official business.

President Trump submitted two nominees to the Senate in February, but the Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, has held no confirmation hearings. McConnell was out of Washington for months this year for health reasons. Trump fired former FEC chair Ellen Weintraub in early 2025, and two Republican commissioners resigned in the months that followed. Democrats in the Senate wrote to Trump in March 2025 to say no president had fired a commissioner in the agency's 50-year history.

Officials within the New Jersey Republican Party filed a formal complaint with the FEC this month against Bennett, who is running against U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th) in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. The complaint accuses Bennett of violating federal law and spending more on television advertising than allowed. Bennett disputes the allegations. In September, acting FEC chairwoman Shana Broussard said the backlog of matters before the commission had grown from 154 to 307.

The agency's inspector general, Susan Ruge-Hudson, wrote in a report to Congress that the FEC cannot hold hearings, write rules, file lawsuits, authorize investigations or refer potential wrongdoing to other agencies without four members. Michael Beckel of Issue One said the agency cannot represent itself in court. Shanna Ports of the Campaign Legal Center said complaints sit unaddressed: "When they get complaints alleging that somebody broke the law, they can't act on that and hold people accountable." The statute of limitations for the FEC to seek civil penalties in court is five years.

The Senate is not scheduled to return until the week after the midterm elections. Mandatory financial disclosures and campaign reports continue to be filed and processed, Beckel said. The 2026 elections are projected to exceed $11 billion in spending. The FEC cannot conduct hearings, write rules, file lawsuits or authorize investigations without four commissioners.