Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Federal courts can’t step in when FEC opts out, appeals panel rules

Judges have no business stepping in when the agency in charge of enforcing campaign finance law decides not to, the federal appeals court in Washington has concluded.

Tuesday's decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a significant blow to advocates of tougher regulation of money in politics.

By leaving intact an earlier interpretation of the law, the judges have decide that federal courts will not second-guess the Federal Elections Commission when it decides not to sanction campaigns or outside groups for violating campaign finance laws – even when such a non-enforcement move is the consequence of a deadlock, not because of an affirmative choice.


"With this decision, @FEC has utterly lost its ability to enforce the law as foreign govts attack our elections, dark-money groups operate from the shadows, & super PACs run rampant. The law will now only be enforced when my obstructionist GOP colleagues deign to do so," tweeted FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub, the sole Democrat on the commission, who said the court had effectively given more power to her Republican colleagues.


titr_embed https://twitter.com/EllenLWeintraub/statuses/1128324879755956225 expand=1]


One GOP commissioner, Caroline Hunter, conceded as much to The Washington Post's Michelle Ye Hee Lee: "Although this decision reaffirms the Commission's longstanding authority to set its own enforcement priorities, the decision deals a blow to the so-called reformers' efforts to use the [FEC] as a partisan rubber stamp for their own agenda."

Since February 2018, two of the six seats on the FEC have been vacant, and the four remaining commissioners have rarely found agreement. In order to make decisions, at least four commissioners must concur – requiring unanimity until more commissioners win Senate confirmation.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the FEC after its 2015 decision not the punish a conservative dark money group called Commission on Hope, Growth and Opportunity, which spent almost $5 million on ads featuring dancing cartoon representations of Democratic candidates in 2010 but told the IRS that none of its spending was for political activities.

Read More

Insider trading in Washington, DC

U.S. senators and representatives with access to non-public information are permitted to buy and sell individual stocks. It’s not just unethical; it sends the message that the game is rigged.

Getty Images, Greggory DiSalvo

Insider Trading: If CEOs Can’t Do It, Why Can Congress?

Ivan Boesky. Martha Stewart. Jeffrey Skilling.

Each became infamous for using privileged, non-public information to profit unfairly from the stock market. They were prosecuted. They served time. Because insider trading is a crime that threatens public trust and distorts free markets.

Keep ReadingShow less
Supreme Court Changes the Game on Federal Environmental Reviews

A pump jack seen in a southeast New Mexico oilfield.

Getty Images, Daniel A. Leifheit

Supreme Court Changes the Game on Federal Environmental Reviews

Getting federal approval for permits to build bridges, wind farms, highways and other major infrastructure projects has long been a complicated and time-consuming process. Despite growing calls from both parties for Congress and federal agencies to reform that process, there had been few significant revisions – until now.

In one fell swoop, the U.S. Supreme Court has changed a big part of the game.

Keep ReadingShow less
Growing Up Latina in Georgia, We Feared More Than ICE

An ICE agent monitors hundreds of asylum seekers being processed.

(Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Growing Up Latina in Georgia, We Feared More Than ICE

Last month, about an hour north of where I grew up in suburban Georgia, 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a mistaken traffic stop. Though granted bond on May 21, Ximena Arias-Cristobal is still facing deportation despite residing in Georgia since she was four years old.

While supporters nationwide have rallied around Ximena Arias-Cristobal, raising nearly $100,000 for her legal defense, this case serves as a solemn reminder that Latinos, especially in the South, are being surveilled. As someone who grew up Latina in a predominantly white suburb of Georgia, I also know that this surveillance isn’t limited to that by the state but ingrained into the fabric of our everyday lives.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scams Targeting Immigrants Take Advantage of Fears of Immigration Status and Deportation

Scam incoming call alert screen on mobile phone.

Getty Images/Stock Photo

Scams Targeting Immigrants Take Advantage of Fears of Immigration Status and Deportation

WASHINGTON–When my phone rang and I saw the familiar DC area code, I picked up, and a man with a slight Indian accent said: “Ma’am, this is the Indian Embassy.”

Expecting a response from the Indian Embassy for an article I was working on, I said, “Is this in regards to my media inquiry?” He said no. He was calling about a problem with my Indian passport. I asked who he called, and when he said a name I didn’t recognize, I informed him he had the wrong person and hung up, figuring it was a scam.

Keep ReadingShow less