While federal campaign finance regulators aren’t known for their aggression, things have gotten so bad that they’re practically begging Congress to give them more weapons to go after political scams—including a recurring donations scheme favored by Donald Trump that has fleeced unwitting supporters for years.
But the recurring donations tactic is just one issue the Federal Election Commission highlighted last week when it published its draft legislation recommendations, the legal wish list the agency sends Congress each year.
It’s not the first time the FEC has floated many of those same proposals, which include requests to shut legal loopholes related to the personal use of political funds, so-called “scam PACs,” and straw donor schemes. The agency asked Congress to put more muscle behind those laws last year, too, but lawmakers seem even more averse to the idea than the notoriously sluggish FEC, whose routine partisan deadlocks over enforcement have led critics to declare the agency “broken.”
Watchdog groups say Congress should pay attention.
Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, told The Daily Beast these renewed requests indicate that the FEC “absolutely agrees these are problems that need fixing.”
“That agreement is so unusual that it should send a message, but I’m not sure if there’s any change of the facts on the ground to prompt action,” Ghosh said. “It’d be great if they took action…
