Meet the FEC.

[trof]

The Commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Each member serves a six-year term, and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. By law, no more than three Commissioners can be members of the same political party, and at least four votes are required for any official Commission action. This structure was created to encourage nonpartisan decisions. The Chairmanship of the Commission rotates among the members each year, with no member serving as Chairman more than once during his or her term.


Chairman Bradley A. Smith was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President William Clinton on February 9, 2000, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 24, 2000.

Vice-Chair Ellen Weintraub received a recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission on December 6, 2002, and took office on December 9, 2002. She was renominated by President George W. Bush on January 9, 2003, and confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on March 18, 2003. Upon her arrival at the FEC, Ms. Weintraub served briefly as Vice Chair and was elected Chair of the Commission on December 18, 2002, taking office on January 2, 2003. She is the third woman to serve on the Commission.

Commissioner David M. Mason was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President William Clinton on March 4, 1998 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 30, 1998. He currently is a member of the Commission’s Litigation Committee.

Commissioner Danny L. McDonald, a Democrat, originally was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 1982. He served as FEC Chairman in 1983, 1989, 1995, and 2001, and previously has served as Vice Chairman in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000.

Commissioner Scott E. Thomas began his service at the FEC as a legal intern during the summer of 1975. The Commission had just opened its doors in the wake of the Watergate scandal and related congressional hearings. Upon graduating from law school in 1977, Mr. Thomas worked on the FEC’s legal staff, eventually serving as an Assistant General Counsel in the Enforcement Division. In 1983, he became Executive Assistant to then Commissioner Tom Harris, a Democrat and one of the original FEC commissioners.
In 1986, with Commissioner Harris retiring, President Reagan appointed Mr. Thomas to the remainder a six-year term. He was reappointed in 1991 by President Bush, and reappointed again by President Clinton in 1997.

Commissioner Michael E. Toner was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President George W. Bush on March 4, 2002 and appointed on March 29, 2002. Mr. Toner was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 18, 2003.

Prior to being appointed to the FEC, Mr. Toner served as Chief Counsel of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Toner joined the RNC in 2001 after serving as General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team in Washington, DC and General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign in Austin, TX.

http://www.fec.gov/

[still_one]

1. It could have been a lot worse

[trof]

2. kick

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. So the odds are about even on anything happening.

In my opinion.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Seems like a decent system of appointments (nt)

nt