CANDICE S. MILLER, MICHIGAN
CHAIRMAN

GREGG HARPER, MISSISSIPPI
PHIL GINGREY, GEORGIA
AARON SCHOCK, ILLINOIS
TODD ROKITA, INDIANA

RICH NUGENT, FLORIDA

KELLY CRAVEN, STAFF DIRECTOR

Congress of the United States

House of Representatives
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE

ADMINISTRATION
1309 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6157

ROBERT A. BRADY, PENNSYLVANIA
RANKING MINORITY MEMBER

ZOE LOFGREN, CALIFORNIA
JUAN VARGAS, CALIFORNIA

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH
CONGRESS

KYLE ANDERSON, MINORITY STAFF
DIRECTOR

(202) 225-8281
http://cha.house.gov

July 19, 2013

Ellen Weintraub, Chair
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20463

Dear Chair Weintraub,

Following up on two letters sent to you earlier this year by Chairman Miller, we are writing
regarding the Federal Election Commission’s failure to issue an updated Enforcement Manual
following the Committee’s hearing on November 3, 2011 and the Commission’s statement in
May 2012 that the revised manual was scheduled to be completed early in 2013. The
Committee’s belief that the FEC should have a current, Commission-approved, public
enforcement manual that governs and accurately reflects the actions of the Commission’s staff
was made abundantly clear in 2011. Nearly two years later, such a manual still does not exist.

Since Chairman Miller wrote to you on January 22 of this year, on:

e February 5 — you stated in a letter to Chairman Miller that a staff draft of a new manual
was circulated to the Commissioners on January 29;

e April 19 — the Commission received public comments on that manual;

e May 20 — you stated in a letter to Chairman Miller that the Enforcement Manual would
be placed on a meeting agenda for a discussion in June, conspicuously avoiding a
commitment regarding finalization of the manual;

e June 12 ~ edits to the manual made by Commissioners were released in anticipation of
the manual being considered at the Commission’s June 13 meeting;

e June 13 — consideration of the manual was held over;

e June 26 ~—a series of additional documents related to the Enforcement Manual were
publicly released in preparation for consideration of the manual at the Commission’s June
27 meeting;

e June 27 —consideration of the manual was held over; and

e July 11 —a Commission meeting occurred; the Enforcement Manual was not on the
agenda.

Merely placing the Enforcement Manual on an agenda clearly is not what the Committee had in
mind when we raised the issue in 2011, nor is it what Chairman Miller had in mind when she
wrote to you on January 22 and May 10. We will be deeply disappointed if the Enforcement
Manual is not fully considered at the Commission’s July 25 meeting.

We are aware of claims that the FEC should not act on the Enforcement Manual because it has
only five serving Commissioners. This flies in the face of both logic and the FEC’s history. In


January 2008 the Commission had only two serving members — including you — and voted on an
advisory opinion request from SpeechNow.org (resulting in a 1-1 deadlock). The Commission
was voting without the presence of even a quorum, much less the statutory maximum number of
Commissioners. Since the departure of former Commissioner Bauerly on February 1, 2013, the
Commission has voted on three advisory opinion requests and published an interpretive rule in
the Federal Register — all with five serving Commissioners. Indeed, it appears one seat on the
Commission was vacant from 1995 — 1998. Surely it would not have been appropriate for the
Commission to stop doing business for those three years.

Your May 20 letter to Chairman Miller came nearly four months after Commissioner Bauerly’s
departure left the Commission with five members. When you stated that the Enforcement
Manual would be placed on the agenda for a meeting in June, you did not express any concern or
hesitation about the number of serving Commissioners, and with no nominees pending it would
have been impossible for a sixth Commissioner to arrive between your letter and a June meeting.
Because the last nominee for the Commission was nominated on May 1, 2009 and the
nomination was withdrawn on August 5, 2010 without action by the Senate, the fact that two
nominees are pending provides no assurance that the number of serving Commissioners will
change in the near future. Further delays in considering the Enforcement Manual cannot be
justified by the number of serving Commissioners.

In the event the Enforcement Manual is not to be considered at the July 25 meeting, we ask that
you notify Chairman Miller in writing no later than 10:00 am on July 25 and that you explain the
reason it will not be considered, including identifying any Commissioner(s) who asked that it be
excluded from the agenda. At that time the Committee will consider whether it is necessary to
hear directly from you when and how the Commission will complete its work on the
Enforcement Manual.

Sincerely,

Candice S. Miller, Chairman

Phil Gingrey [Deogey— Aaron Schock
Richard B. ee : 3

odd Rokita