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Advocacy Blog
Friday, June 15, 2007
Still Waiting: Campaign Finance, Lobbying, Ethics, and Now FEC Nominees
A BNA Money and Politics ($$) story reminds observers of the "pending campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics issues faced by the 110th Congress with no sure end in sight." The FEC nomination hearing highlighted this. Apparently, a Senate vote on the FEC nominees could still be weeks or even months away. If the three FEC recess-appointed commissioners are not confirmed by the end of this session of Congress in December, they will have to leave the agency, leaving the FEC in a presidential election year without enough commissioners to operate. The article further comments on the stalled lobbying and ethics legislation which is waiting for a House-Senate Conference Committee.
Election and ethics attorney Kenneth Gross warned "that there is no administrative agency to write clear rules about how to comply with new restrictions. There is no agency regulating lobbying similar to the FEC in the function that it provides for interpreting campaign finance laws in particular cases, he indicated. That means someone who wants to take advantage of an exception in the rules--such as giving a gift or buying a meal based on personal friendship--may have trouble being assured that the decision will not be questioned at some point."
Posted by Amanda Adams
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