FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

FISCAL YEAR 2020

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION

March 18, 2019

Concurrently submitted to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget
1

Table of Contents

SUMMARY OF FY 2020 BUDGET JUSTIFICATION 2

MISSION STATEMENT 5

Section 1: Purpose and Priorities in FY 2020 6

1A: Commission Overview and Future Outlook 6

1B: FY 2020 Priorities 9

Section 2: Budget Overview 12

2A: OMB Budget Guidance Level 12

2A.1: Description of Budget Increases and Decreases 13

2B: Appropriations Language 17

2C: Recommended Legislative Changes 18

Section 3: FY 2020 Annual Performance Plan and FY 2018 Annual Performance Report 20

3A: Introduction 20

3A:1 Mission Statement 20

3B: Organizational Structure 21

3C: Performance Framework 24

3C:1 Strategic Goal 24

3C:2 Plans and Progress by Strategic Objective 24

3D: Implementation Factors 44

3D:1 Major Management Priorities, Challenges and Risks 44

3D:2 Data Validation and Verification 44

3E: Conclusion 45

Office of Inspector General’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request 46
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SUMMARY OF FY 2020 BUDGET JUSTIFICATION

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency responsible for 

administering, enforcing, defending and interpreting the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

(“FECA” or the “Act”), as amended.1 As the foundation of Federal campaign finance regulation, 

FECA reflects Congress’s efforts to prevent corruption through two principal means. First, it 

ensures that voters have access to information about the sources of financial support for Federal 

candidates, political party committees and other political committees. Second, FECA imposes 

amount limitations and source prohibitions on contributions received by certain types of political 

committees. The Commission’s responsibilities also include overseeing the Federal public funding 

programs for Presidential campaigns.2

Over the past several years, the FEC has made significant progress to modernize its IT systems and 

processes. These efforts include the redesign of the FEC website and the migration to a cloud 

environment of the FEC’s campaign finance database, which contains over forty years of transactionlevel campaign finance data reported to the agency. As a result, the FEC was able to shut down one

of its four physical data centers during 2018 and begin to realize lower annual costs for maintaining 

that database, despite a steep rise in the number of reported financial transactions each year. The 

FEC has also continued to develop and maintain a robust cyber security plan to meet emerging 

threats to the security and integrity of its data. At the same time, the FEC has continued to prioritize 

improving the customer service it provides to the public. The FEC has developed a campaign finance 

API that allows users to access campaign finance data directly. The FEC has also developed more 

user-friendly website interfaces for public use and new internal tools to ensure FEC staff provide an

efficient, fair and satisfying customer experience to individuals who interact with the agency, either 

in person or through FEC.GOV.

For the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Budget Submission, the FEC’s requested funding level is

$70,537,500, a 1% decrease from the FYs 2019 and 2018 baselines. This funding level is consistent 

with the President’s Budget for FY 2020, and it recognizes the challenging Federal budget 

conditions. Funding at this reduced level would nonetheless allow the agency to continue on-going 

IT modernization projects, ensuring the realization of value from previous IT investments, as well 

as future savings the projects will create. This funding level would also allow the agency to maintain 

its commitment to providing excellent service to the public by funding service improvements. These 

service improvements are necessary to support the increased volume of campaign finance data the 

agency anticipates receiving and processing during the presidential election year. 

FEC Budget Submission 

The FEC protects the integrity of the Federal campaign finance process by providing the public with 

accurate and accessible information about how candidates raise and spend funds to support their 

campaigns. In an average fiscal year, the FEC receives campaign finance reports, statements and 

 1 Public Law 92-225, 86 Stat. 3 (1972) (codified at 52 U.S.C. §§ 30101-45). 2 The Commission’s responsibilities for the Federal public funding programs are contained in the Presidential Election

Campaign Fund Act, Public Law 92-178, 85 Stat. 562 (1971) (codified at 26 U.S.C. §§ 9001-13) and the Presidential

Primary Matching Payment Account Act, Public Law 93-443, 88 Stat. 1297 (1974) (codified at 26 U.S.C. §§ 9031-42).
3

other disclosure documents from more than 12,000 political committees and other filers. During 

FY 2018, these filers reported more than 140 million financial transactions, which were reviewed 

by FEC staff and disclosed to the public on the FEC’s website. The agency has already begun to 

implement new programs and systems to ensure the timely disclosure of campaign finance data

despite a steep increase in the volume of activity reported. These programs include the migration 

of campaign finance data to a cloud environment and efforts to modernize the FEC’s eFiling system. 

Adequate funding for FY 2020 will be crucial to ensuring the FEC meets its mission to provide 

transparency in the campaign finance process.

By providing the public with transparency regarding campaign financing and ensuring that campaign 

finance law is fairly and effectively enforced and administered, the Commission provides the public 

with crucial information. To support this mission, the FEC provides the public with campaign 

finance information and gives timely advice and support so that candidates, committees and the 

public can fully understand and comply with the requirements of campaign finance law. The 

Commission is committed to providing excellent service to the American people by offering timely 

and comprehensive access to reported campaign finance data and ensuring that information and data 

are provided in an intuitive and easy-to-use manner. 

IT Modernization

In order to make certain that campaign finance disclosure data are quickly available and easily 

accessible to the public and that the Commission makes the best use of its limited resources, the 

Commission is undertaking multiyear efforts to modernize and redesign the agency’s eFiling system 

and website, as well as the infrastructure that supports the FEC’s IT systems. The modernization 

efforts will provide for seamless integration with the website. Moreover, the FEC’s modernized 

eFiling platform, which will be hosted in a cloud environment, will be administered by existing FEC 

staff, reducing costs associated with contractor support. Funding at the $70.5 million full request

level in FY 2020 would allow the FEC to continue work as planned on the system redesign.

Building on the success of the FEC’s large-scale initiative to migrate the campaign finance database 

to a cloud environment and continuing work to modernize the eFiling system, the FEC will work in 

FY 2020 to reduce reliance on legacy systems. Moving to a cloud-hosted model provides the 

Commission opportunities to continue to reduce its dependency on costly legacy systems, including 

mission-critical systems affecting both internal and external users. Funding at the $70.5 million 

level for FY 2020 would ensure the FEC can continue projects to reduce long-term data hosting costs 

and lower the costs of maintaining legacy systems, while also ensuring the integrity and accessibility 

of the agency’s information. Funding at this level would also support planned upgrades to server 

and network hardware and ensure the FEC is well positioned to protect systems, networks and data 

from cyber security threats.

Customer Experience

The Commission has a long-standing commitment to providing excellent customer service to 

individuals and groups who do business with the agency, including filers, journalists, legal 

practitioners, researchers and other members of the public, whether they call the FEC directly or 
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visit the agency only through www.fec.gov. Funding at the $70.5 million request level would allow 

the FEC to maintain the tools, staffing and expected level of performance to improve customer 

experience and ensure the public has confidence and trust in the services the agency provides.

The FEC’s FY 2020 request includes funds to continue these projects to increase the efficiency and 

effectiveness of the agency’s service delivery to the public. These efforts will not only provide better 

and more accessible information to the public, but will also aid in the agency’s consistent priority to 

improve its cyber security posture. 

An appropriation for the FEC at the full request amount of $70.5 million for FY 2020 would position 

the agency to carry out its mission and accomplish the IT modernization, cyber security and customer 

service priorities described herein during the 2020 presidential election year.
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MISSION STATEMENT

To protect the integrity of the Federal campaign finance process

by providing transparency and fairly enforcing and administering

Federal campaign finance laws

Congress created the FEC to administer, enforce and formulate policy with respect to FECA. The 

Act reflects Congress’s efforts to ensure that voters are fully informed of the sources of financial 

support for Federal candidates, political committees and others and to prevent corruption. Public 

confidence in the political process depends not only on laws and regulations to ensure transparency, 

but also on the knowledge that those who disregard the campaign finance laws will face 

consequences.

The primary objectives of the FEC are: (1) to engage and inform the public about campaign finance 

data; (2) to promote compliance with FECA and related statutes; (3) to interpret FECA and related 

statutes; and (4) to foster a culture of high performance.

Voluntary compliance with the requirements of FECA is a particular focus of the Commission’s 

efforts, and its educational outreach and enforcement programs are both designed to ensure 

compliance with the Act’s limits, prohibitions and disclosure provisions. Because of the large and 

rising number of political committees and the ever-growing number of financial disclosure reports 

filed with the FEC, voluntary compliance is essential to enforcing the requirements of the Act. 

Accordingly, the Commission devotes considerable resources to encouraging voluntary compliance 

through widespread dissemination of educational materials related to Federal campaign finance laws 

to the public, the press, political committees and State election officials.

This Budget Justification is organized in three sections. Section 1 addresses the agency’s purpose 

and priorities in FY 2020. Section 2 provides an overview of the agency’s request. Section 3 

provides an overview of the agency’s four strategic objectives and describes the agency’s 

performance goals, indicators and targets to ensure continued progress toward meeting these 

objectives during FY 2020.
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Section 1: Purpose and Priorities in FY 2020

1A: Commission Overview and Future Outlook

The FEC is an independent regulatory agency responsible for administering, enforcing, defending 

and interpreting FECA. The Commission is also responsible for administering the Federal public 

funding programs for Presidential campaigns. 

The FEC is directed by six Commissioners, who are appointed by the President with the advice and 

consent of the Senate. By law, no more than three Commissioners can be members of the same 

political party. The Commissioners meet regularly to formulate policy and to vote on significant 

legal and administrative matters. The Act requires the affirmative vote of four members of the 

Commission to approve official actions, thus requiring bipartisan decision making.

As part of its responsibilities, the FEC makes available on its website the campaign finance disclosure 

reports that the Act requires all Federal candidates and Federal political committees to file. These 

disclosure reports and the data contained in them are made available to the public through the 

Commission’s Internet-based public disclosure system on the agency’s website at www.fec.gov. The 

FEC also has exclusive responsibility for civil enforcement of FECA, including the handling of civil 

litigation arising from any legal actions brought by or against the Commission. Additionally, the 

Commission promulgates regulations implementing the Act. The Commission also has a statutory 

responsibility to issue advisory opinions responding to inquiries regarding interpretation and 

application of the Act and the Commission’s regulations to specific factual situations.

The FEC’s Strategic Plan for FY 2018 through FY 2022, developed pursuant to the Government 

Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)3 and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010,4 provides 

the agency’s strategic management framework. This framework is designed to ensure that every 

employee works in support of the FEC’s strategic goal and objectives and that the effectiveness of 

these efforts can be regularly and meaningfully measured.

 3 Public Law 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993) (codified at 31 U.S.C. § 1115 et seq.). 4 Public Law 111-352, 124 Stat. 3866 (2011) (codified at 31 U.S.C. §§ 1115-24).
7

The FEC is funded by a single annual appropriation for salaries and expenses and is authorized to 

collect fees only to offset the costs of the agency’s educational conferences. More than two-thirds 

of the agency’s operational expenses are composed of personnel salary and benefits. Of the agency’s 

remaining operational expenses, the largest categories are IT initiatives, which includes IT security 

initiatives, and facilities. These three requirements constitute over 90 percent of the agency’s budget. 

Actual spending for FY 2018, which is shown in Figure 1 below, reflects the historical trend. The 

FEC expects the percentages in each category for its FY 2020 operational budget will be comparable 

to FY 2018. 

Figure 1 – FY 2018 Obligations by Major Category

as of September 30, 2018

67.0% SALARIES and 

BENEFITS

18.4% OCIO 

INITIATIVES

5.8% FACILITIES 8.8% OTHER
8

FEC Organizational Chart

The Offices of the Staff Director, General Counsel, Chief Information Officer and Chief Financial 

Officer support the agency in accomplishing its mission. The Office of the Inspector General, 

established within the FEC in 1989 under the Inspector General Act Amendments of 1988,5 is 

independent and reports both to the Commissioners and to Congress. The specific roles and 

responsibilities of each office are described in greater detail at http://www.fec.gov/about.shtml. 

 5 Public Law 100-504, 102 Stat. 2515 (1988). 
9

1B: FY 2020 Priorities

The FEC priorities for FY 2020 are in line with the agency’s FY 2018 to 2022 strategic plan and are 

limited to those needs that will allow the agency to fulfill its mission as required by law. Funding 

at the requested amount of $70.5 million would permit the FEC to take measures to enhance the 

delivery of campaign finance data and legal resources. The requested funding would also improve 

the agency’s systems and processes, allowing the Commission to reduce dependency on costly 

legacy systems and improve the efficiency of the agency’s IT infrastructure, including ongoing 

migration to cloud-hosted data and services, improvements to the eFiling platform and continued 

enhancements to cyber security and tools. These priorities will ensure that the agency can make the 

best use of limited staff resources and continue to meet increasing public demand for its services. 

IT Modernization

The FEC protects the integrity of the Federal campaign finance process by providing transparency 

and fairly enforcing and administering Federal campaign finance laws. Fair enforcement and full 

disclosure of the sources and amounts of campaign funds allow the public to make informed 

decisions in the political process. Transparency requires that information is not only kept by the 

FEC but also that it is provided to the public in a way that is intuitive to users and provides the 

necessary context for understanding how Federal elections are funded. The FEC must make 

election-related reports and information accessible to the public in a timely, reliable and useful 

fashion. The Commission is therefore committed to providing the public with robust access to 

campaign finance data, compliance information and legal resources. Funding at the full requested

amount of $70.5 million would permit the FEC to improve the quality of services delivered to the 

public. 

The FEC provides free electronic filing software, FECFile, to support political committees in 

reporting their campaign finance activity to the FEC. During FY 2017, the FEC completed and 

published a study to determine ways to modernize the agency’s eFiling system, platform and 

software to receive better quality data, be more responsive to user needs and handle the increasing 

volume of data reported.6 The study of the FEC’s eFiling system showed that 59 percent of 

electronic filers use the agency’s software. During FYs 2018 and 2019, the FEC began 

implementing improvements. In this request, the agency seeks funds for FY 2020 to continue 

implementing improvements to its eFiling platform consistent with the study findings. Planned 

improvements to the eFiling platform will improve ease of filing for users by allowing greater 

operating system flexibility when generating filings for submission to the Commission. The FEC’s 

new eFiling platform will also improve the process for validating filings prior to acceptance and 

generate modern file outputs that will provide for more flexibility in accessing data. In addition, the 

modernization efforts will provide for seamless integration with the data portion of the website and, 

therefore, more efficient use of the agency’s resources. Modernizing this tool continues to be an 

important priority for the Commission.

In conjunction with the redesign of the agency’s website, the FEC has begun the process of migrating 

appropriate data and systems, such as the campaign finance database, to a cloud environment. Cloud 

hosting offers a number of benefits for the FEC. The agency’s Internet traffic is variable, with many 

 6 Available at https://fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/agency-operations/e-filing-study-2016/.
10

more visitors accessing the website during election years and near reporting deadlines. In addition 

to website visitors, filers need to access the electronic filing system and Commission staff need to 

access applications, including the website and databases, to perform their work-day duties. With a 

cloud-hosted application and database infrastructure, the FEC will only need to pay for the actual 

usage, rather than maintaining the capacity to support peak usage, even during periods of reduced 

usage. Website downtime will be minimized and server maintenance will be managed by the cloud 

computing provider. 

In addition, the move to a cloud-hosted model provides the Commission with opportunities to retire 

a number of costly legacy systems and reduce the agency’s data center footprint.7 During 2018, the 

agency successfully migrated its campaign finance database and website to a cloud environment and 

shut down one of its four physical data centers. Migrating these assets to a cloud environment 

significantly lowers the cost of maintaining these systems, even as the campaign finance database 

continues to grow each year. Planned improvements to the eFiling system, which was designed in 

the mid-1990s, will provide an opportunity to migrate the eFiling data center to a cloud environment 

as well, reducing our costs for the support and maintenance of the legacy eFiling physical data center. 

Thus, in addition to improving service delivery to the public, migrating to a cloud environment will 

allow the agency to reduce the long-term costs of maintaining IT legacy systems. Funding at the 

requested level for FY 2020 will permit the Commission to continue the migration to cloud hosting 

with the goal of reducing costs associated with the agency’s data center footprint and providing more 

responsive customer service. 

The FEC is also committed to ensuring the security of its information, from protecting the integrity 

and accessibility of the database of campaign finance information made available to the public on 

the FEC website to protecting the agency’s internal networks and data. During FY 2017, the FEC 

participated in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Incident Response Evaluation 

(FIRE). The purpose of this evaluation was to review the FEC’s incident response management 

processes and capabilities against a benchmark of defined capabilities and to provide an independent 

judgment of the quality of the FEC’s incident management. While the FEC has tools and services in 

place to detect and respond to cyber intrusions, it does not currently have the capabilities to serve 

this function 24 hours per day. The DHS FIRE returned a strong recommendation to put in place a 

24/7/365 detection and response capability. During FY 2019, the FEC will formalize a Cyber 

Incident Response Team supported by a Managed Detection and Response service. Funding at the 

full request level for FY 2020 would allow the FEC to continue to support 24/7/365 cyber security 

detection and response capabilities through the next election cycle.

Improve Customer Experience

Key to all of these efforts are the FEC’s continuing efforts to maintain the current high performance 

of staff and the excellent service they provide to the public. The Commission has established a series 

of data-driven metrics to measure customer satisfaction with educational outreach efforts and to 

ensure that matters are moved efficiently and fairly through the enforcement and compliance 

processes, with complainants and respondents afforded sufficient transparency regarding the 

 7 The FEC’s efforts to reduce spending on operation and maintenance costs is consistent with the Government Accountability 

Office’s May 2016 report, Federal Agencies Need to Address Aging Legacy Systems.
11

processes. To improve customer service, the FEC completed work in FY 2016 on an internal tool 

to ensure the consistency and accuracy of responses provided by public-facing staff, and 

implemented a correspondence tracking tool in FY 2018 to streamline response times. This system 

also allows filers to quickly identify their committee’s analyst in the Reports Analysis Division and 

to contact that analyst via web form. Throughout FYs 2018 and 2019, the FEC has pursued a plan 

to hire staff in public-facing offices and in the Office of the Chief Information Officer to better serve 

the public’s information needs. The FEC continues to carefully manage attrition to ensure the agency 

develops a workforce for the 21st Century. Despite making these critical hires during FYs 2018 and 

2019, the FY 2020 requested funding would support an anticipated 327 FTEs, representing a 

reduction of eight FTEs from the FY 2019 request and 18 FTEs from the FY 2018 request. 

To ensure the agency continues to meet the public’s needs during the run up to the 2020 elections, 

and that the FEC can continue to make strategic long-term decisions to lower costs and staff 

appropriately for the future, the FEC seeks an appropriation of $70,537,500 for FY 2020.
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Section 2: Budget Overview

2A: OMB Budget Guidance Level

In this section, pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance, budget increases 

and decreases are identified, and the fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget request is compared to the 

Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2019. For FY 2020, the requested 

appropriation is $712,500 less than the FY 2019 appropriation, representing a 1% reduction. The 

increases and decreases are shown below. 

Category Amount

FY 2019 Appropriation $71,250,000 

Personnel Changes

Personnel Compensation and Benefits -959,673

Personnel Changes Subtotal: $-959,673

Non-Personnel Changes

IT Contracts -2,075,017

Contracts & Other Services -1,192,420

Travel & Transportation -217,812

Supplies & Materials -200,105

Non Capitalized & Capitalized Equipment -133,625

Federal Goods & Services -130,597

GSA Rent 4,196,749

Non-Personnel Changes Subtotal: $247,173

Total Change: -$712,500

FY 2020 Budget Request $70,537,500 

Table 1

Summary of Changes from FY 2019 to FY 2020 Agency Request
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2A.1: Description of Budget Increases and Decreases

Program Increases and Decreases...................................................................................($712,500)

Personnel Decreases ............................................................................................$(959,673)/-8 FTE

The FY 2020 funding request takes into account full year funding for up to 327 full-time equivalents 

(FTE) for FY 2020. This is a decrease of eight FTEs from the FY 2019 budget justification. Since 

the FY 2017 budget justification, this marks the third reduction of FTE for a total decrease of 38 

FTEs. The projected average annual salary for FY 2020 includes the increases applicable to calendar 

year 2019 but no funding for awards or salary increases beyond 2019. 

Non-Personnel Increases.....................................................................................................$247,173

IT Contracts.................................................................................................................... ($2,075,017)

This decrease is primarily due to the agency realizing savings from reducing high-cost IT contracts 

and the completion during FY 2019 of one-time investments made to improve systems that support 

payroll, finance and Office of Human resources processes. The majority of the decrease results from 

enactment of the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans 

Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. This legislation contained a provision making the FEC the official 

point of entry for all Senate filings. Filers who previously submitted reports to the Secretary of the 

Senate must now submit all reports directly to the FEC and are now subject to the electronic filing 

requirements that have applied to all other filers since January 1, 2000. This will allow the agency 

to realize significant cost savings in contracts to support its automated data capture process to convert 

paper-filed reports into structured, machine readable data. Additional reductions are due to the 

completion of funding during FY 2019 for other projects to enhance or replace IT support systems, 

including improvements to systems that support payroll, finance and Office of Human resources 

systems.

Contracts and Other Services..........................................................................................($1,192,420)

This decrease is primarily due to the completion of funding during FY 2019 for projects to ensure 

compliance with government-wide records management requirements and implementation of 

recommendations from Office of Personnel Management and FEC Office of Inspector General 

audits. Additional decreases result from planned reductions to the number of staff members 

authorized as subscribers to an on-line legal research tool.

Travel and Transportation..................................................................................................($217,812)

This decrease will be realized by reducing auditor travel to conduct on-site fieldwork for 

Commission approved audits. Instead, FEC auditors will conduct in-house audits in some 

circumstances. Additionally, the agency may reduce the number of educational conferences it holds.

Supplies and Materials.......................................................................................................($200,105)

This decrease would be accomplished by reducing bulk supply orders to stock the agency centralized 

supply room. 
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Non Capitalized and Capitalized Equipment ....................................................................($133,625)

The majority of this reduction represents the postponement of hardware refreshes and upgrades to 

servers and equipment during FY 2020. Additional reductions are related to the agency realizing 

the efficiencies of the expenses associated with the website redesign. 

Federal Goods & Services ................................................................................................($130,597)

This estimated decrease is due to the agency realizing cost savings in the Federal Protection Services 

(FPS) contract for the new leased space. In addition to the agency’s decreased space usage in the 

new building, FPS changed its rate structure, which may result in permanent overall savings. 

GSA Rent.............................................................................................................................$4,196,749

In FY 2018, the agency moved into a new facility. Incorporated in the lease agreement were 

favorable free rent periods in the early years of the lease. As a result, in past submissions, we have 

been able to request a temporary decrease in GSA Rent. However, in FY 2020, the periods of free 

rent will begin to expire, requiring an increase for GSA Rent. 
15

Table 2 highlights the FEC’s FY 2020 Budget Request as compared to the FY 2019 appropriation and FY 2018 actual obligations. The 

FEC’s FY 2020 Budget Request is $712,500 less than the amount received in the FY 2019 appropriation, a 1% overall reduction. 

Table 2

FY 2020 Budget Request Object Class Data

Federal Election Commission 

Object Class Data FY 2018 Actual FY 2019 Budget

FY 2020 

Budget 

Request

Change 

from FY 

2019 to 

FY 2020

% Change 

from FY 2019 

to FY 2020

11 Personnel Compensation 35,243,226 38,619,300 37,887,123 -732,177 -1.90%

11.52 Cash Awards 518,564 - - 0

12.1 Personnel benefits 11,138,854 11,776,105 11,548,609 -227,496 -1.93%

12.18 Transit Subsidy 365,925 415,745 415,745 0 0.00%

 Subtotal, Personnel $47,266,569 $50,811,150 $49,851,477 $-959,673 -1.89%

21 Travel & transportation of persons 216,355 374,765 156,953 -217,812 -58.12%

23.1 GSA Rent 4,548,451 1,006,730 5,203,479 4,196,749 416.87%

23.3 Communications, Utilities & Postage 476,581 469,259 469,259 0 0.00%

24 Printing & Reproduction 109,616 106,804 106,804 0 0.00%

25.11 Training, Commercial Fed. & Tuition 400,501 481,051 481,051 0 0.00%

25.14 IT Contracts 10,145,586 8,434,728 6,359,711 -2,075,017 -24.60%

25.2 Contracts & Other Services 1,300,016 2,239,570 1,047,150 -1,192,420 -53.24%

25.3 Federal Goods & Services 2,715,935 1,381,565 1,250,968 -130,597 -9.45%

26 Supplies and Materials 935,509 1,589,106 1,389,001 -200,105 -12.59%

31 Non-Capitalized and Capitalized 

Equipment 2,860,762 4,355,272 4,221,647 -133,625 -3.07%

 Subtotal, Non-Personnel $23,709,312 $20,438,850 $20,686,023 247,173 1.21%

 TOTAL $70,975,881 $71,250,000 $70,537,500 -712,500 -1.00%
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In summary, the FY 2020 request comprises difficult choices that balance fiscal discipline with 

meeting the agency’s needs. Reducing funding by 1% from FY 2019 will impact both personnel 

and non-personnel aspects of the Budget. In regard to personnel, the FEC would have less flexibility 

to fill vacancies, which may cause certain positions to be filled in an acting capacity. In regard to 

non-personnel funding, the agency will have to scale back or eliminate some projects that may have 

had positive impacts on operations. 
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2B: Appropriations Language

The FEC’s request includes the funding level necessary to support the agency’s mission and achieves 

a savings of 1% of the FY 2019 and FY 2018 funding levels. The FEC is including the following 

Appropriations Language. 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

Federal Funds

Salaries and Expenses

For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, 

$70,537,500, of which not to exceed $5,000 shall be available for reception and representation 

expenses.
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2C: Recommended Legislative Changes

On December 13, 2018, the Commission submitted legislative recommendations to Congress and 

the Administration.

8 Two of these recommendations represent bold proposals to streamline 

processes for disclosing campaign finance data to the public and ensure that the agency can provide 

more timely disclosure of reported campaign finance data at a lower cost to taxpayers. These 

initiatives require statutory changes to be enacted through legislation, and proposed statutory 

language for each was approved by the Commission and provided to the Congress and the 

Administration. 

Electronic Filing of Electioneering Communication Reports

Section: 52 U.S.C. § 30104(a)(11)(A)(i) 

Recommendation: Congress should require reports of electioneering communications to be 

filed electronically with the Commission, rather than on paper.

Explanation: The Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2000, Pub. L. 

No. 106-58, § 639, 113 Stat. 430, 476 (1999), required the Commission to make electronic 

filing mandatory for political committees and other persons required to file with the 

Commission who, in a calendar year, have, or have reason to expect to have, total 

contributions or total expenditures exceeding a threshold amount set by the Commission 

(which is currently $50,000). In addition, many independent expenditure reports are already 

subject to mandatory electronic filing under 52 U.S.C. § 30104(a)(11)(A)(i). However, 

because electioneering communication reports are not filed by political committees, and 

because funds spent for electioneering communications are reported as “disbursements,” and 

not as “expenditures,” the mandatory electronic filing provisions do not apply to 

electioneering communication reports. 

Compared to data from paper reports, data from electronically filed reports is received, 

processed and disseminated more easily and efficiently, resulting in better use of resources. 

Reports that are filed electronically are normally available to the public, and may be 

downloaded, within minutes. In contrast, the time between the receipt of a report filed 

through the paper filing system and its initial appearance on the Commission’s web site is 48 

hours. 

Electronic filings are not subject to delay due to post office processing or disruptions in the 

delivery of mail, such as those arising from security measures put in place after the discovery 

of anthrax powder and ricin in mail. Because of these security measures, the Commission’s 

receipt of mailed paper filings is delayed. In contrast, electronic filings are not subject to 

these delays. 

Only entities that report more than $50,000 of electioneering communications would be 

subject to mandatory electronic filing under the proposal. The current threshold selected by 

the Commission ensures that entities with limited financial resources can file reports on 

 8 https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/legrec2018.pdf
19

paper, which avoids the limited cost of internet access and a computer sufficient to file 

reports. 

Increase and Index for Inflation Registration and Reporting Thresholds

Sections: 52 U.S.C. §§ 30101, 30104 and 30116

Recommendation: Congress should increase and index for inflation certain registration and 

reporting thresholds in the Federal Election Campaign Act that have not been changed since 

the 1970s. 

Explanation: Most of the Federal Election Campaign Act’s contribution limits and 

registration and reporting thresholds were set in the 1970s. Because over twenty years of 

inflation had effectively reduced FECA’s contribution limits in real dollars, the Bipartisan 

Campaign Reform Act of 2002 increased most of the Act’s contribution limits to adjust for 

some of the effects of inflation. Furthermore, BCRA indexed these limits for inflation to 

address inflation in future. The Commission proposes extending this approach to registration 

and reporting thresholds, which have been effectively reduced by inflation since those 

thresholds were established in 1971 or 1979. 

Since 1971, FECA has provided that any group of persons that receives contributions or 

makes expenditures in excess of $1,000 in a calendar year must register and report as a 

political committee. 52 U.S.C. § 30101(4)(A). FECA also requires political committees to 

abide by the contribution limits and source prohibitions specified in FECA. Since 1979, 

FECA has provided that local political party organizations are also subject to a $1,000 

threshold for federal political committee status. 52 U.S.C. § 30101(4)(C). The Commission 

recommends that Congress increase these thresholds to amounts determined appropriate by 

Congress, and then index those amounts for inflation to prevent erosion in the future. Raising 

this threshold would be particularly beneficial for local and Congressional district 

committees of political parties. These organizations frequently breach the $1,000 threshold. 

An increased threshold would permit limited spending on federal elections without triggering 

federal political committee status for local and Congressional district committees of political 

parties.

Since 1979, FECA has required persons (other than political committees) who make 

independent expenditures in excess of $250 in a calendar year to report such expenditures to 

the Commission. 52 U.S.C. § 30104(c)(1). The Commission recommends that Congress 

increase this threshold to an amount determined by Congress and index this amount for 

inflation. 

Increasing these thresholds would take into account many years of inflation and the general 

increase in campaign cost and ease the compliance burdens on smaller organizations and 

individuals. Additionally, by increasing the thresholds, Congress would exempt some 

individuals and small organizations that engage in only minimal spending from the Act’s 

registration and reporting requirements. Increasing the registration and reporting thresholds 

to compensate for inflation would leave significant financial activity subject to regulation as 

intended by Congress when it enacted the FECA.
20

Section 3: FY 2020 Annual Performance Plan and FY 2018 Annual 

Performance Report

3A: Introduction

This Annual Performance Plan and Report (APP/APR) is considered the companion to the Federal 

Election Commission’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2018-2022, and designed to provide a 

solid framework for performance planning and reporting in accordance with the requirements of the 

GPRA Modernization Act of 2010.

9 The FY 2020 Annual Performance Plan and FY 2018 Annual 

Performance Report are combined in this document to present accomplishments through FY 2018 

and performance targets associated with FYs 2018, 2019 and 2020. 

This plan positions the agency to promote compliance and to engage and inform the public about 

campaign finance data and rules. In order to meet these challenges, the FEC must maintain a 

workforce that is highly qualified to achieve the agency’s mission effectively and efficiently. 

3A:1 Mission Statement

To protect the integrity of the Federal campaign finance process by providing transparency and fairly 

enforcing and administering Federal campaign finance laws.

 9 The President’s Budget identifies the lower-priority program activities, where applicable, as required under the GPRA

Modernization Act, 31 U.S.C. 1115(b)(10). The public can access the volume at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget.
21

3B: Organizational Structure

The FEC is an independent regulatory agency responsible for administering, enforcing, defending 

and interpreting the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act).

10 The Commission is also responsible 

for administering the Federal public funding programs for Presidential campaigns. This 

responsibility includes certifying and auditing all participating candidates and committees and 

enforcing the public funding laws.

Under the Act, all Federal political committees, including the committees of Presidential, Senate and 

House candidates, must file reports of receipts and disbursements. The FEC makes disclosure reports 

available to the public through the Commission’s Internet-based public disclosure system at 

www.fec.gov as well as through a public records office at the Commission's Washington, D.C. 

headquarters. The FEC also has exclusive responsibility for civil enforcement of the Act, and has 

litigating authority independent of the Department of Justice in U.S. District Court and the Courts 

of Appeals. Additionally, the Commission promulgates regulations implementing the Act and issues 

advisory opinions responding to inquiries.

To accomplish its legislative mandate, the FEC is directed by six Commissioners, who are appointed 

by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. By law, no more than three 

Commissioners may be members of the same political party. Each member serves a six-year term, 

and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. Commissioners may serve beyond their 

six-year terms until new Commissioners are confirmed. The Chairmanship of the Commission 

rotates among the members, with no member serving as Chair more than once during a six-year

term. The Commissioners are responsible for administering and enforcing the Act and meet regularly 

to formulate policy and to vote on significant legal and administrative matters. The Act requires at 

least four votes for the Commission to approve official actions, thus requiring bipartisan decisionmaking. The FEC has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and does not have any regional offices.

 

10 The Commission’s primary responsibilities pertain to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, Public Law 92-225,

86 Stat. 3 (1972) as amended (codified at 52 U.S.C. §§ 30101-30145) (formerly at 2 U.S.C. §§ 431-55) (the Act or the

FECA). The Commission’s responsibilities for the Federal public funding programs are contained in the Presidential

Election Campaign Fund Act, Public Law 92-178, 85 Stat. 562 (1971) (codified at 26 U.S.C. §§ 9001-13) and the

Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act, Public Law 93-443, 88 Stat. 1297 (1974) (codified at 26

U.S.C. §§ 9031-42).
22

Figure 1: FEC Organizational Chart

As noted in Figure 1 above, the offices of the Staff Director, General Counsel, Chief Information 

Officer and Chief Financial Officer support the agency in accomplishing its mission. The Office of 

the Inspector General, established within the FEC in 1989 under the 1988 amendments to the 

Inspector General Act, is independent and reports both to the Commissioners and to Congress. The 

specific roles and responsibilities of each office are described in greater detail immediately below.

 Office of the Staff Director (OSD)

The Office of the Staff Director consists of four offices: 1) Management and Administration; 2) 

Compliance; 3) Communications; and 4) Equal Employment Opportunity. The Office of 

Management and Administration is responsible for the FEC’s strategic planning and performance 

and works with the Commission to ensure the agency’s mission is met efficiently. In addition, this 

office houses the Commission Secretary, the Office of Human Resources (OHR) and the 

Administrative Services Division (ASD). The primary responsibilities of the Office of Compliance 

are making campaign finance reports and data available to the public, review of campaign finance 

reports, assistance with compliance, audits, administrative fines and alternative dispute resolution. 

The Office of Communications includes divisions charged with making enforcement, policy and 
23

other Commission documents, as well as Presidential candidates’ personal financial disclosure 

reports, available to the public, encouraging voluntary compliance with the Act through educational 

outreach and training, and ensuring effective communication with Congress, executive branch 

agencies, states, the media and researchers, and the general public. The Equal Employment 

Opportunity Office administers and ensures compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies 

and guidance that prohibit discrimination in the Federal workplace based on race, color, national 

origin, religion, age, disability, sex, pregnancy, genetic information or retaliation. The EEO Officer 

reports to the Staff Director on administrative issues, but has direct reporting authority on all EEO 

matters. See 29 CFR 1614.102(b)(4).

 Office of General Counsel (OGC)

The Office of General Counsel consists of five organizational units: (1) the Deputy General 

Counsel—Administration; (2) the Deputy General Counsel—Law; (3) the Policy Division; (4) the 

Enforcement Division; and (5) the Litigation Division. The Deputy General Counsel—

Administration directly supervises the Administrative Law Team, the Law Library and all OGC 

administrative functions. The Deputy General Counsel—Law has the primary responsibility for 

assisting the General Counsel in all of the substantive aspects of the General Counsel’s duties and 

shares in the management of all phases of OGC programs, as well as directly supervising the 

agency’s ethics program. The Policy Division drafts for Commission consideration advisory 

opinions and regulations interpreting the Federal campaign finance law and provides legal advice to 

the FEC’s compliance programs. The Enforcement Division recommends to the Commission 

appropriate action to take with respect to administrative complaints and apparent violations of the 

Act. Where authorized, the Enforcement Division investigates alleged violations and negotiates 

conciliation agreements, which may include civil penalties and other remedies. If an enforcement 

matter is not resolved during the administrative process, the Commission may authorize suit in 

district court, at which point the matter is transferred to the Litigation Division. The Litigation 

Division represents the Commission before the Federal district and appellate courts in all civil 

litigation involving campaign finance statutes. This Division assists the Department of Justice’s 

Office of the Solicitor General when the Commission’s FECA cases are before the Supreme Court.

 Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) consists of four units: (1) Enterprise 

Architecture; (2) Operational Support; (3) Data Administration; and (4) IT Security. The OCIO 

provides secure, stable and robust technology solutions for Commission staff and the public. OCIO 

both develops and maintains the systems that serve as the public's primary source of information 

about campaign finance data and law and ensures agency employees have a technology 

infrastructure that allows them to perform their day-to-day responsibilities administering and

enforcing campaign finance law. OCIO also develops and supports analytic reporting tools that help 

staff perform their disclosure and compliance duties. 

 Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO)

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer is responsible for complying with all financial management 

laws and standards, and all aspects of budget formulation, budget execution and procurement.
24

3C: Performance Framework

3C:1 Strategic Goal

The strategic goal of the Federal Election Commission is to fairly, efficiently and effectively

administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act, promote compliance and engage and 

inform the public about campaign finance data and rules, while maintaining a workforce that delivers 

results.

3C:2 Plans and Progress by Strategic Objective

The Act reflects a belief that democracy works best when voters can make informed decisions in 

the political process—decisions based in part on knowing the sources of financial support for 

Federal candidates, political party committees and other political committees. As a result, the

FEC’s first strategic objective is to inform the public about how Federal campaigns and

committees are financed. Public confidence in the political process also depends on the knowledge

that participants in Federal elections follow clear and well-defined rules and face consequences 

for non-compliance. Thus, the FEC’s second strategic objective focuses on the Commission’s 

efforts to promote voluntary compliance through educational outreach and to enforce campaign

finance laws effectively and fairly. The third strategic objective is to interpret the FECA and 

related statutes, providing timely guidance to the public regarding the requirements of the law. 

The Commission also understands that organizational performance is driven by employee

performance and that the agency cannot successfully achieve its mission without a highperforming workforce that understands expectations and delivers results. Consequently, the FEC’s 

fourth strategic objective is to foster a culture of high performance in order to ensure that the

agency accomplishes its mission efficiently and effectively. The FEC’s strategies for reaching 

these objectives are outlined below.

3C:2.1 Strategic Objective 1: Engage and Inform the Public about Campaign Finance Data

Leaders: Assistant Staff Director for Reports Analysis Division; Assistant Staff Director for Public 

Disclosure and Media Relations Division

The FEC protects the integrity of Federal campaigns by providing transparency and fairly enforcing 

and administering Federal campaign finance laws. Full disclosure of the sources and amounts of 

campaign funds and fair enforcement of Federal campaign finance laws allow the public to make 

informed decisions in the political process. Transparency requires that information is not only kept 

by the FEC, but also provided to the public in an easily accessible way. In order to make certain that 

campaign finance disclosure information is quickly available and easily accessible to the public, the

agency has made a number of improvements to modernize its campaign finance disclosure database 

and public interface. Specifically, the FEC has developed application programming interfaces (APIs) 

and other tools to improve access to campaign finance data. The agency is also committed to 

providing excellent customer service to help the public find and understand campaign finance 

information. The FEC gauges its effectiveness through a series of indicators designed to measure 

performance in areas that promote confidence in the campaign finance process, as detailed in the 

charts below. 
25

Strategies and Next Steps 

The FEC’s eFiling system acts as the point of entry for submission of electronically filed campaign 

finance reports, providing faster access to reports and streamlining operations. This system provides 

for public disclosure of electronically filed reports, via the FEC website, within minutes of being 

filed. When a committee files a financial disclosure report on paper, the Commission ensures that a 

copy is available for public inspection within 48 hours of receipt, both electronically on the website 

and at the FEC’s offices in Washington, D.C.11 The FEC is committed to providing timely and 

transparent campaign finance disclosure to the public and delivering data in accessible and easy-touse formats. 

During FYs 2019 and 2020, the FEC will continue work to upgrade the agency’s eFiling platform. 

In FY 2017, the Commission published a study of its current eFiling platform, including a survey of 

the existing functionality of the FEC’s free filing software and an in-depth investigation of needs 

expressed by filers.12 The FEC will rely on the recommendations of this study to improve its eFiling 

platform to allow greater operating system flexibility for users when generating filings for 

submission to the Commission and increase the consistency and accuracy of reporting. The FEC’s 

new eFiling platform is expected to improve the process for validating filings prior to acceptance 

and generate modern file outputs that will provide for more flexibility in accessing data.

The Commission is continuing the redesign of its website by developing a user-centered online 

platform to deliver campaign finance information to its diverse base of users. This effort will ensure 

that the FEC provides full and meaningful campaign finance data and information in a manner that 

meets the public’s increasing expectations for data customization and ease of use.

Performance measures for assessing progress on this Strategic Objective include measures to ensure 

that data from campaign finance reports are quickly made available to the public and that the FEC 

pursues programs to make data more accessible to the public.

Progress Update for FY 2018

The FEC continued its work to receive and make public campaign finance disclosure information. 

The FEC received 81,167 campaign finance disclosure documents filed during FY 2018 disclosing 

more than 140 million transactions. Reports filed electronically are made available on the FEC 

website, and may be downloaded by the public within minutes of submission. Reports filed on paper 

are scanned and made available on the FEC website within 48 hours of receipt. During FY 2018, the 

FEC ensured that 99 percent of paper filed reports were made available to the public within two 

business days, just shy of its goal of 100 percent, but met its goal of ensuring that 100 percent of 

independent expenditure filings were made available to the public within one business day. 

 

11 The Commission’s mandatory electronic filing (“e-filing”) rules require any committee that receives contributions or 

makes expenditures in excess of $50,000 in a calendar year, or that has reason to expect to do so, to submit its reports 

electronically. Under the Act, these mandatory e-filing provisions apply to any political committee or other person 

required to file reports, statements or designations with the FEC, except for Senate candidate committees (and certain 

other persons who support Senate candidates only).

12 Available at https://fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/agency-operations/e-filing-study-2016/.
26

After reports are imaged for disclosure purposes, the information is coded and entered into the FEC’s

database for review to assess accuracy and ensure complete disclosure of campaign finance 

information. The agency’s goal is to code and enter 95 percent of the reports within 30 days of 

receipt, and while the FEC has been challenged to meet this goal in recent years, in FY 2018 the 

agency exceeded its goal, processing 100 percent of reports within 30 days of receipt. 

On September 21, 2018, the President signed the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and 

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019, which contained a provision 

making the FEC the official point of entry for all Senate filings. Filers who previously submitted 

reports to the Secretary of the Senate must now submit all reports directly to the FEC. Additionally, 

these filers are now subject to the electronic filing requirements that have applied to all other filers 

since January 1, 2000. Prior to the enactment of the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and 

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019, processing and coding paperfiled Senate campaign finance disclosure reports represented a significant challenge to the agency.

A Senate campaign filing often consists of thousands of pages, and data from these filings had 

consumed a disproportionate amount of FEC staff time to be integrated into the Commission’s 

searchable databases. The Commission had previously unanimously recommended to Congress a 

legislative change to apply mandatory electronic filing rules to Senate reports.

Performance Goal 1-1: Improve the public’s access to information about how 

campaign funds are raised and spent.

Key Indicator: Percent of reports processed within 30 days of receipt.

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

88% 79% 92% 100% 96% 95% 100% 95% 95%
27

Supporting Indicators 1-1:

Measure Name FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

Percent of 

reports and 

statements filed 

on paper with 

the FEC made 

available on the 

FEC website 

within two 

business days of 

receipt

100% 100% 91%13 99% 99% 100% 99% 100% 100%

Percent of 24-

and 48-hour 

reports on 

independent 

expenditure 

spending filed on 

paper made 

available on the 

FEC website 

within one 

business day of 

receipt

N/A 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Implement 

modernized 

eFiling system

N/A N/A N/A N/A 100% N/A N/A 50% 

implementation

N/A

3C:2.2 Strategic Objective 2: Promote Compliance with the FECA and Related Statutes

Leaders: Deputy Staff Director/Chief Compliance Officer; Deputy General Counsel—Administration; 

Deputy General Counsel—Law; Assistant Staff Director, Information Division 

Helping the public understand its obligations under the Act is an essential component of voluntary 

compliance. The FEC places a significant emphasis on encouraging compliance. The FEC measures its 

progress in meeting this Objective through two performance measures, discussed separately below. The 

first measures the agency’s efforts to encourage voluntary compliance through educational outreach and 

information and the second measures the FEC’s efforts to seek adherence to FECA requirements through 

fair, effective and timely enforcement and compliance programs. Progress against these measures and 

supporting indicators is detailed in the charts below.

Strategies and Next Steps 

Encourage voluntary compliance with FECA requirements through educational outreach and information.

The FEC’s education and outreach programs provide information necessary for compliance with 

campaign finance law and give the public the context necessary to interpret the campaign finance data 

 13 During FY 2015, the Commission developed an automated process to measure this metric in order to provide a more accurate

assessment.
28

filers disclose. The FEC maintains a toll-free line and public email accounts to respond to inquiries 

regarding campaign finance data disclosed to the public and questions about how to comply with 

campaign finance law and its reporting requirements. The FEC’s Public Disclosure and Media Relations 

Division and Congressional Affairs Office also respond to inquiries.

One way the Commission encourages voluntary compliance is by hosting conferences across the 

country, where Commissioners and staff explain how the Act applies to candidates, parties and political 

action committees. These conferences address recent changes in the law and focus on fundraising, 

methods of candidate support and reporting regulations.

The FEC also devotes considerable resources to ensuring that staff can provide distance learning 

opportunities to the general public. The Commission’s website is one of the most important sources of 

instantly accessible information about the Act, Commission regulations, and Commission proceedings. 

In addition to viewing campaign finance data, anyone with Internet access can use the website to track 

Commission rulemakings, search advisory opinions, audits and closed enforcement matters, view 

campaign finance data, and find reporting dates. The Commission places a high emphasis on providing 

educational materials about campaign finance law and its requirements. Toward this end, the FEC has 

moved its focus away from the printing and manual distribution of its educational materials and instead 

looked for ways to leverage available technologies to create and disseminate dynamic and up-to-date 

educational materials through the website. While the Commission continues to make available printed 

copies of its educational brochures and publications, transitioning to primarily web-based media has 

allowed the agency to reduce significantly its printing and mailing costs and use of resources while at 

the same time encouraging new and expanded ways of communicating with the public via the website.

As part of this broad effort to improve its Internet communications and better serve the educational 

needs of the public, the Commission maintains its own YouTube channel, which can be found at 

http://www.youtube.com/FECTube. The YouTube channel offers a variety of instructional videos and 

tutorials that enable users to obtain guidance tailored to their specific activities. 

The agency’s educational outreach program has been significantly enhanced with the addition of an 

online training service that enables political committees, reporters, students and other groups to schedule 

live, interactive online training sessions with FEC staff. This on-demand service allows the FEC to 

provide tailored, distance learning presentations and training to the public in a manner that will 

significantly increase the availability of FEC staff to serve the public. The service also offers an efficient 

and effective way for alternative dispute resolution and other enforcement respondents to satisfy the 

terms of their agreements with the agency.
29

Seek adherence to FECA requirements through fair, effective and timely enforcement and compliance 

programs.

The FEC has formed strategies for ensuring that its enforcement and compliance programs are fair, 

effective and timely. The Commission’s statutory obligation is to administer, interpret and enforce the 

Federal Election Campaign Act, which serves the compelling governmental interest in deterring 

corruption and the appearance of corruption in financing elections. In doing so, the Commission remains 

mindful of the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and association, and the practical 

implication of its actions on the political process.

The FEC has exclusive jurisdiction over civil enforcement of Federal campaign finance laws. It consults 

with the U.S. Department of Justice, as appropriate, on matters involving both civil and criminal 

enforcement of the Act. Commission enforcement actions, which are handled primarily by the Office of 

General Counsel (OGC), originate from a number of sources, including external complaints, referrals 

from other government agencies and matters generated by information ascertained by the Commission 

in the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities. Enforcement matters are handled 

by OGC pursuant to the requirements of the FECA. If the Commission cannot settle or conciliate a 

matter involving an alleged violation of the Act, the Commission may initiate civil litigation by filing 

and prosecuting a civil action in Federal district court to address the alleged violation. Closed 

enforcement matters are available via the FEC website.

To augment OGC’s traditional enforcement role, the Office of Compliance manages several programs 

that seek to remedy alleged violations of the Act and encourage voluntary compliance. These programs 

include: 1) the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program, 2) the Administrative Fine Program and 3) the 

Audit Program. The Commission’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program is designed to resolve 

matters more swiftly by encouraging the settlement of less-complex enforcement matters with a 

streamlined process that focuses on remedial measures for candidates and political committees, such as 

training, internal audits and hiring compliance staff. Violations involving the late submission of, or 

failure to file, disclosure reports are subject to the Administrative Fine Program. This Program is 

administered by RAD and the Office of Administrative Review (OAR), which assess monetary penalties 

and handle challenges to the penalty assessments. The Audit Program conducts “for cause” audits under 

the FECA in those cases where political committees have failed to meet the threshold requirements for 

demonstrating substantial compliance with the Act, and conducts mandatory audits under the public 

funding statutes. Subject to limited redactions, threshold requirements approved by the Commission and 

used by RAD and the Audit Division are public. 

The Office of Compliance’s Reports Analysis Division (RAD) reviews an ever-increasing volume of 

reports to track compliance with the law and to ensure that the public record provides a full and accurate 

representation of reported campaign finance activity. If the FEC’s review identifies an apparent 

violation or raises questions about the information disclosed on a report, RAD sends a request for 

additional information (RFAI letter) to the filer, affording an opportunity to take remedial action or

correct the public record, if necessary. If the filer is able to resolve the FEC’s concerns, it may avoid an 

enforcement action. If not, the Commission has several tools available to it, such as the Administrative 

Fine Program, audits, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program and the traditional enforcement 

program.
30

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program was implemented in FY 2001 with the primary 

objective to enhance the agency’s overall effectiveness through more expeditious resolution of 

enforcement matters with fewer resources required to process complaints and internal referrals. A case 

is closed when the Commission votes on the recommendation made by the ADR Office as to what final 

action should be taken. 

In response to a legislative mandate, an Administrative Fine (AF) Program was implemented in July 

2000 to address late and non-filing of disclosure reports in a more efficient and effective manner. The 

AF Program is administered by RAD and Office of Administrative Review (OAR), which are within 

the Office of Compliance. 

The Commission generally conducts audits when a committee appears not to have met the threshold 

requirements for substantial compliance. The audit determines whether the committee complied with 

the limitations, prohibitions and disclosure requirements of the Act. In addition, the Commission is 

required by law to audit Presidential campaigns that accept public funds. 

Progress Update for FY 2018

Encourage voluntary compliance with FECA requirements through educational outreach and information.

During FY 2018, the Commission continued to meet its mandate to assist the public by providing access 

to campaign finance compliance information. The Commission is deeply committed to providing 

candidates, committees and the public timely advice and support so they can fully understand and 

comply with the Act. The Commission also continues to strive to better understand and meet the needs 

of the public and other stakeholders. During FY 2018, the FEC produced a variety of instructional videos 

and web content, conducted online training workshops and held comprehensive two-day conferences in 

Washington, DC, and Scottsdale, Arizona. The FEC again exceeded its customer service target for 

conferences and webinars, achieving an average attendee satisfaction rating of 4.53 on a five point scale. 

In another effort to better serve the public, the agency implemented an internal correspondence tracking 

system to help ensure FEC staff provide timely and consistent answers to inquiries from the public and 

to streamline the response process. This system allows filers and the public to quickly identify and query 

appropriate FEC staff. In addition to ensuring prompt responses to public inquiries, this tool allows staff 

to communicate responses among offices, thus improving staff efficiency.

Seek adherence to FECA requirements through fair, effective and timely enforcement and compliance 

programs.

Reports Analysis Division

During FY 2018, RAD continued to ensure that campaigns and political committees file timely and 

accurate disclosure reports that fully disclose their financial activities. During the fiscal year, RAD 

reviewed 82,289 documents totaling 48.2 million pages. RAD continued to demonstrate its commitment 

to assisting filers with compliance, handling 13,036 phone calls and meetings, developing YouTube 

reporting tutorials and participating in several FEC conferences, seminars and webinars during FY 2018. 

In addition, the Reports Processing Branch demonstrated its commitment to providing the public with 

timely data, coding 30.8 million transactions during FY 2018.
31

Office of General Counsel

OGC continues to seek improvement in meeting its obligations to the Commission and the public to 

handle its caseload efficiently and effectively despite staffing challenges. In FY 2018, the Commission 

closed 169 enforcement cases in an average of 14.5 months, which included $635,200 in negotiated 

civil penalties. The Commission closed 104 cases (62 percent) within 15 months.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The ADR program continued to promote compliance with Federal campaign finance law and 

Commission regulations and to reduce the cost of processing complaints by encouraging settlements 

outside the agency’s normal enforcement track. During FY 2018, the Commission completed 43 ADR 

cases, which included $175,415 in negotiated civil penalties. The Commission’s performance measure 

for ADR is to circulate 75 percent of cases to the Commission within 140 days of a case being referred. 

Seventy-four percent of cases met the 140-day benchmark. 

Administrative Fine Program

The Administrative Fine Program continues to successfully reduce the number of late and non-filed 

reports and encourage campaign finance transparency through the timely filing of campaign finance 

reports. During FY 2018, RAD processed 95 reason-to-believe recommendations for Commission 

consideration. RAD processed 97 percent of these recommendations within 60 days of the original due 

date of the untimely or not filed report. OAR reviewed 8 challenges submitted by committees in 

response to a reason-to-believe finding and/or civil money penalty. OAR reviewed 100 percent of these 

challenges within 60 days of receipt. The average completion time for challenges was 47 days. Overall, 

OAR has reviewed 755 challenges submitted from the Program’s inception through FY 2018.

Audit Division

The Audit Division continues to enforce the FECA through an audit process approved by the 

Commissioners each cycle. During FY 2018, the Audit Division publicly released 11 Audit Reports of 

which five, or 45 percent, were completed within the two-year performance goal period. During FY 

2018 there were two challenges to preliminary audit findings under the Request for Legal Consideration 

by the Commission program established in 2011, and there was one Audit Hearing requested. 
32

Performance Goal 2-1: Encourage voluntary compliance with FECA requirements 

through educational outreach and information.

Key Indicator: Educational outreach programs and events achieve targeted satisfaction 

rating on user surveys.

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual 

FY 2015 

Actual 

FY 2016 

Actual 

FY 2017 

Actual 

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

N/A N/A 4.34 4.53 4.43 4.0 or higher 

on a 5.0 scale

4.53 4.0 or higher 

on a 5.0 scale

4.0 or 

higher on a 

5.0 scale
33

Supporting Indicators 2-1:

Measure Name FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

Increase in the 

number of ELearning 

presentations 

available on the 

FEC website

N/A 13 new 

trainings

1 new 

trainings

4 new 

trainings

6 new 

trainings

4 new 

trainings

3 new 

trainings

4 new 

training

s

4 new 

trainings

Implement 

correspondence 

tracking tool for 

public-facing 

offices

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Complete 

by 2018

100% N/A N/A
34

Performance Goal 2-2: Seek adherence to FECA requirements through fair, 

effective and timely enforcement and compliance programs.

Key Indicator: Of the enforcement matters resolved during the fiscal year, the 

percentage that was resolved within 15 months of the date of receipt.

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

72% 28% 49% 38% 68% 50% 62% 50% 50%
35

Supporting Indicators 2-2:

Measure Name FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

Percent of 

notifications 

provided within 

five days of 

complaints filed 

with the FEC

100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Percent of 

enforcement 

matters presented 

to the 

Commission for 

initial review 

within one year of 

the date of receipt

N/A 73% 93% 86% 86% 80% 84% 80% 80%

Percent of RFAIs 

sent within 40 

days of report 

review

72% 84% 92% 92% 88% 75% 88% 75% 75%

Percent of reports 

reviewed by RAD 

within 90 days of 

receipt

73% 85% 79% 93% 77% 75% 92% 75% 75%

Percent of 

Proposed Final 

Audit Reports

(PFAR) approved 

by the 

Commission 

within two years 

from the start of 

fieldwork

38% 93% 43% 56% 25% 60% 45% 60% 60%

Percent of 

Reviewing Officer 

Recommendations

circulated within 

60 days

93% 100% 97% 82% 97% 75% 100% 75% 75%

Percent of 

ADRO 

Recommendations

circulated within 

140 days of 

referral

91% 72% 90% 97% 78% 75% 74% 75% 75%
36

3C:2.3 Strategic Objective 3: Interpret the FECA and Related Statutes

Leader: Deputy General Counsel—Administration; Deputy General Counsel—Law

Commission initiatives, Congressional action, judicial decisions, petitions for rulemaking or other 

changes in campaign finance law may necessitate that the Commission update or adopt new regulations. 

Consequently, the FEC undertakes rulemakings either to write new Commission regulations or revise 

existing regulations. The Commission also provides guidance on how the Act applies to specific 

situations through the advisory opinion process and represents itself in most litigation before the Federal 

district court and the courts of appeals. The Commission’s three primary means for providing 

interpretive guidance for the Act and related statutes are discussed below.

Regulations

The Policy Division of OGC drafts various rulemaking documents, including Notices of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRMs), for Commission consideration. NPRMs provide an opportunity for the public to 

review proposed regulations, submit written comments to the Commission and, when appropriate, 

testify at public hearings at the FEC. The Commission considers the comments and testimony and 

deliberates publicly regarding the adoption of the final regulations and the corresponding Explanations 

and Justifications, which provide the rationale and basis for the new or revised regulations.

Advisory Opinions

Advisory opinions (AO) are official Commission responses to questions regarding the application of 

Federal campaign finance law to specific factual situations. The Act generally requires the Commission

to respond to AO requests within 60 days. For AO requests from candidates in the two months leading 

up to an election, the Act requires the Commission to respond within 20 days. On its own initiative, the 

Commission also makes available an expedited process for handling certain time-sensitive requests that 

are not otherwise entitled to expedited processing under the Act. The Commission strives to issue these 

advisory opinions in 30 days.

Defending Challenges to the Act

The Commission represents itself in most litigation before the Federal district court and courts of 

appeals and before the Supreme Court with respect to cases involving publicly financed Presidential 

candidates. It also has primary responsibility for defending the Act and Commission regulations against 

court challenges. In addition, the Act authorizes the Commission to institute civil actions to enforce the 

Act. 

Strategies and Next Steps

The Office of General Counsel continues to focus on its processes to ensure that staff provides timely 

and well-written advice to the Commission so that it can meet its obligations to administer and enforce 

campaign finance law. The Commission considers it a high priority to ensure that guidance is provided 

through the advisory opinion process within the timeframes established by the Act. OGC continues to 

ensure that court filings meet all deadlines and rules imposed by the courts and has set as a performance 

target meeting 100 percent of these deadlines and rules.
37

Progress Update for FY 2018

During FY 2018, the Commission met its goal to provide 100 percent of legal guidance within statutory 

and court-ordered deadlines. The Commission also met a separate goal to issue 100 percent of advisory 

opinions within the applicable 60- or 20-day statutory deadlines. During FY 2018, the Commission 

completed work on 14 AO requests and issued 11 opinions in response to those requests.14 Of the 14 

AO requests that the Commission completed in FY 2018, 14 were 60-day AORs (one of which received 

extended deadlines), and one was an AOR that the Commission elected to expedite and issue within 30 

days. These AOs addressed a variety of issues, including cybersecurity threats faced by political 

committees; the permissible/impermissible uses of campaign funds by federal candidates and 

officeholders; state party committee status; and online contribution-processing applications. The 

average number of days from receipt of a complete AO request to Commission action on it was 39 days 

for 60-day requests that did not have extended deadlines, and 40 days for all requests.

 14 Two advisory opinion requests resulted in split decisions in which the Commission issued a closeout letter rather than an advisory 

opinion because the Commission could not approve an advisory opinion by the required number of votes. One advisory opinion request 

was withdrawn. 
38

Performance Goal 3-1: Provide timely legal guidance to the public.

Key Indicator: Percent of legal guidance provided within statutory and courtordered deadlines.

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

N/A 100%15 100%16 100%17 100%18 100% 100%19 100% 100%

 15 The Commission obtained extensions to consider ten advisory opinion requests in FY 2014; four of those extensions were 

attributable to the Federal government shutdown during October 2013. The Commission did not have any rulemakings during 

FY 2014 with statutory or court-ordered deadlines. 16 The Commission obtained extensions to consider two advisory opinion requests in FY 2015. The Commission did not have 

any rulemakings during FY 2015 with statutory or court-ordered deadlines. 17 The Commission obtained extensions to consider six advisory opinion requests in FY 2016. 18 The Commission obtained extensions to consider seven advisory opinion requests in FY 2017. 19 The Commission obtained an extension to consider one advisory opinion request in FY 2018.
39

Supporting Indicators 3-1:

Measure 

Name

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

Percent of 

advisory 

opinions 

issued within 

60-day and 

20-day 

statutory 

deadlines

100%20 100%21 100%22 100%23 100%24 100% 100%25 100% 100%

Percent of 

court filings 

that meet all 

deadlines and 

rules 

imposed by 

the courts

100% 100% 100% 100% 98% 100% 99% 100% 100%

 20 Four 60-day advisory opinions had extended deadlines in FY 2013. 21 The Commission obtained extensions to consider ten advisory opinions during FY 2014; four of those extensions were 

attributable to the Federal government shutdown during October 2013. 22 The Commission obtained extensions to consider two advisory opinion requests in FY 2015. 23 The Commission obtained extensions to consider six advisory opinion requests in FY 2016. 24 The Commission obtained extensions to consider seven advisory opinion requests in FY 2017. 25 The Commission obtained an extension to consider one advisory opinion request in FY 2018.
40

3C:2.4 Strategic Objective 4: Foster a Culture of High Performance

Leaders: Deputy Staff Director for Management and Administration/Chief Human Capital Officer 

and Deputy Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Architecture

One of the objectives from the FEC’s Strategic Plan, FY 2018-2022, Foster a Culture of High 

Performance, cuts across the organization and reflects the agency’s strategic priorities for improving 

the efficiency and effectiveness of its workforce and management processes. The FEC’s primary 

measure of success in developing and maintaining a result-driven workforce is at the program level: 

a workforce that delivers results will meet the internal performance targets set by the Commission. 

Supporting targets and results are detailed in the charts below.

Strategies and Next Steps

The Commission understands that the success of its programs depends upon the skills and 

commitment of its staff. The Commission isfocused on ensuring that staff training needs are assessed 

and met at every level of the agency and that agency leaders receive training necessary to help 

manage and maintain a fully engage and productive workforce. The FEC is also focused on 

decreasing the time to hire, improving the agency’s performance management systems and 

developing a supervisory and managerial training program for senior leaders, mid-career managers 

and first time supervisors. 

In order to reduce costs and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services, the FEC is also 

pursuing a multi-year IT modernization project. In January 2018, the FEC entered a partnership with 

Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (CMU SEI) and the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) to take advantage of Federally Funded Research and Development 

Centers (FFRDCs) IT cloud transition assistance. The partnership between DHS, CMU and FEC 

will aid the migration to a cloud environment of another of the FEC’s campaign finance databases. 

This database, which is currently hosted in a physical data center, both receives data from the FEC’s 

eFiling system and supports the agency’s internal compliance tools. In addition, planned 

improvements to the eFiling system, which was designed in the mid-1990s, will provide an 

opportunity to migrate the eFiling data center to a cloud environment, reducing our costs for the 

support and maintenance of the legacy eFiling physical data center. 

Consistent with its commitment to fostering the talents and skills of its employees and providing 

excellent service to the public, the FEC will also create a cross-functional group within the agency 

to develop and implement user-centered, evidence-based design solutions for achieving the agency’s 

mission efficiently and effectively. The team will leverage technological advancements to improve 

the delivery of mission critical functions. This team will be tasked with harnessing the creativity and 

ideas of agency employees, and emerging technologies, to restructure systems, tools and processes, 

while building a 21st century IT infrastructure to better serve the American public.

The FEC is also participating in and contributing to the government-wide Records Management 

initiative. In compliance with the Federal Records Act, the FEC is updating its records management 

program. The updated program will increase efficiency and improve performance by eliminating 

paper and using electronic recordkeeping to the fullest extent possible. 
41

Progress Update for FY 2018

The Commission’s records management program continued to make advancements in calendar year 

2018. In conjunction with its National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Appraisal 

Archivist, and in accordance with the Managing Government Records Presidential Directive, the 

Commission submitted for approval its NARA form 1005 (NA-1005) Verification for Implementing 

GRS 6.1, following the Commission’s approval of the agency-wide Email Management Policy. In 

addition, the Commission made important progress toward the 2019 Presidential Directive of 

managing all permanent electronic records in an electronic format, having requested and received 

approval from the Archivist of the United States to maintain electronically the FEC’s Office of 

General Counsel Policy Division Records, including advisory opinions case files and rulemaking 

case files, as well as the agency’s invitation records. A request seeking approval to maintain all 

records associated with the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution’s case files was also submitted 

in January 2018 and is pending with NARA, as NARA seeks to finalize and formally add to its 

regulations digitization standards applicable to paper records that are ultimately digitized. 

Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020 will bring continued focus on updating the agency’s records schedules 

in compliance with the 2019 Presidential Directive, updating the agency’s Records Management 

Program, and training all staff on the agency and government-wide records schedules, policies and 

responsibilities. 

During FY 2018, the FEC partnered with the Office of Personnel Management’s HR Solutions to 

improve the FEC’s staffing, classification and performance management processes. To begin 

streamlining and better documenting the agency’s hiring procedures, the FEC and HR Solutions 

created new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and began to implement these new procedures 

during the third quarter of FY 2018. With these new procedures, hiring managers are more directly 

involved throughout the hiring process, are receiving high quality advice and are able to onboard 

new hires more quickly. In FYs 2019 and 2020, the FEC will continue to focus on using the new 

SOPs to further streamline the hiring process and fill vacant positions faster. In addition, through 

the HR Solutions partnership, the FEC is also working to standardize its performance management 

system by updating Office of Human Resources policies, position descriptions, performance 

standards and position classifications in conjunction with program offices across the agency. 

Along with changes to hiring and performance management, the FEC has also begun the process of 

evaluating training needs for the agency’s leadership. The FEC leveraged the partnership with the 

Office of Personnel Management to bring a broader, high-quality supervisory training to the 

agency’s supervisors.

In conjunction with the redesign of the agency’s website, the FEC has also begun the process of 

migrating appropriate data and systems, such as the campaign finance database, to a cloud 

environment. During FY 2018, the agency successfully migrated a campaign finance database and 

its website to a cloud environment and shut down one of its four physical data centers. Migrating 

these assets to a cloud environment significantly lowers the cost of maintaining these systems, even 

as the campaign finance database continues to grow each year. Cloud hosting offers a number of 

benefits for the FEC in particular. The agency’s Internet traffic is variable, with many more visitors 
42

accessing the website during election years and near reporting deadlines. In addition to website 

visitors, filers need to access the electronic filing system and Commission staff need to access 

applications, including the website and databases, to perform their day-to-day duties. With a cloudhosted application and database infrastructure, the FEC only needs to pay for the actual usage, rather

than constantly maintaining the capacity to support peak usage, even during periods of reduced 

usage. Website downtime is minimized and server maintenance is managed by the cloud computing 

provider. 

Performance Goal 4-1: Foster a workforce that delivers results.

Key Indicator: Commission-required quarterly updates meet targeted performance 

goals.

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

N/A 73% 80% 76% 85% 65% 73% 65% 65%
43

Supporting Indicators 4-1:

Measure 

Name

FY 2013 

Actual

FY 2014 

Actual

FY 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Target

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Target

FY 2020 

Target

Average 

number of 

days to hire

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 80 days 153 days 80 days 80 days

Implement 

new 

performance 

management 

system 

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Nonbargaini

ng unit 

impleme

n-tation

N/A

Develop 

program for 

tiered 

supervisory 

training

N/A N/A N/A N/A 100% Launch 

Senior 

Leader 

program

Baseline 

Supervisory 

Training 

provided

Launch 

midcareer 

manager 

program

N/A

Meet 

Records 

Management 

Presidential 

Directive 

milestones

100% 50% N/A26 60% 70% As 

specified 

in Presidential 

Directive

73% As 

specified 

in Presidential 

Directiv

e

As 

specified in 

Presidential 

Directive

Reduce 

reliance on 

physical data 

centers

N/A N/A N/A N/A Baseline 

of four 

physical 

data 

centers

25% 

reduction 

from 

baseline

100% N/A N/A

Develop and 

implement 

Innovation 

Center

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Complet

e by 

2019

N/A

 26 There were no Records Management Presidential Directive milestones for calendar year 2015.
44

3D: Implementation Factors

3D:1 Major Management Priorities, Challenges and Risks

The FEC identified in the agency’s FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan a management objective, Foster a 

Culture of High Performance, that sets out strategies and measures designed to help the agency 

deliver greater impact through innovation, increase effectiveness and efficiency, and improve 

service. Detailed information about this Strategic Objective is available in section 3C:2.4, above. In 

addition, the Commission has identified management initiatives as strategic activities in the strategic 

plan to support its mission objectives where those activities are deemed crucial to the success of the 

objective. 

During FY 2018, the FEC worked in collaboration with the 18F team from GSA to redesign the FEC 

website to ensure that the FEC provides campaign finance disclosure information in a manner that 

is most beneficial to the public. 18F relies on an agile development model, where new products are 

quickly developed in their simplest forms and put before users immediately in order to test the 

developers’ assumptions. This evidence-based development model allows user experience and 

feedback to drive the development process and ensures that the FEC can provide improved services 

to the public as they become available over time, rather than having to wait until the entire project 

is completed. The website redesign project is further detailed in section 3C:2.1.

In addition, during FY 2018 the FEC began a partnership with the Office of Personnel Management’s 

HR Solutions to improve the FEC’s staffing, classification and performance management processes. 

Goals for the FEC’s human capital management processes are detailed in section 3C:2.4.

Each year the FEC’s Inspector General (IG) is required to provide a summary and assessment of the 

most serious management and performance challenges facing the FEC. In a memorandum dated 

October 24, 2018, the IG identified one challenge facing management: governance and management 

framework. The IG’s assessment and the FEC’s response are included in the FEC’s FY 2018 Agency 

Financial Report, available on the FEC website at https://www.fec.gov/resources/cmscontent/documents/FY2018.FEC.AgencyFinancialReportAFR.pdf.

3D:2 Data Validation and Verification

OMB Circular A-136, as revised, and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) require each

agency to describe the accuracy and reliability of the data used to measure progress toward its 

performance goals, including an identification of the means used to verify and validate the measured 

values and the source for the data. Agencies are encouraged to determine the appropriate frequency

of data validation and verification (V&V) needed for the intended use and should allocate

appropriate resources to carry out validation and verification on an appropriately periodic basis.

Many of the FEC’s performance measures set goals for the timely completion of tasks that are either
45

internally generated or triggered through reports or complaints filed with the Commission. As a

result, the universe of data the FEC must collect and verify to support its performance information 

is generally small, centrally located and easily verified. The FEC tracks data to support its 

performance measures through its internal databases and with spreadsheets maintained by program 

managers. In cases where performance is measured based on the timeframe for completing a

decision, matter or inquiry, the universe of data to be measured and the dates on which performance

milestones are reached are tracked electronically. Data provided by the agency’s litigation, policy,

enforcement and compliance offices are reported at least quarterly to the Commission, which 

provides regular opportunities for the accuracy of the data to be verified. 

The FEC also tracks its performance in making campaign finance information available to the public. 

Reports filed with the FEC represent the largest universe of data the agency must consider in 

determining its performance. Campaign finance reports and statements filed electronically are made

available on the FEC website nearly instantaneously, and reports and statements filed on paper with 

the FEC are placed on the FEC website within 48-hours of receipt. In addition, FEC staff process 

the data contained in campaign finance reports so that the information can be accurately organized, 

categorized and searched in the agency’s databases. The FEC sets as a performance goal processing

95 percent of reports through its data and coding system within 30 days. The entry and completion 

dates for each report are retrievable through the FEC’s electronic systems. 

The FEC has completed a broad review of its methods for verifying and validating performance as 

part of its overall assessment of its strategic and performance plans. The FEC has identified seniorlevel staff and key managers to serve as goal leaders for each area of the strategic and performance

plans. In addition, each strategic activity in the Strategic Plan has been assigned one or more program 

managers, who are responsible for the delivery and performance reporting of that activity. These

managers will be serving as measure managers and data quality leads to ensure the completeness, 

consistency and accuracy of the reported data of their respective strategic activity. 

3E: Conclusion

As described in this section, the FEC’s plans and strategies for FYs 2019 and 2020 are designed to 

ensure that the agency is well-prepared to provide full campaign finance transparency to the public 

despite the expected increase in campaign finance activity.
46

Office of Inspector General’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request

The Inspector General Reform Act (Pub. L. 110-409) was signed by the President on October 14,

2008. Section 6(f)(1) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. app., was amended to require

certain specifications concerning Office of Inspector General (OIG) budget submissions each fiscal 

year.

Each Inspector General (IG) is required to transmit a budget request to the head of the establishment 

or designated Federal entity to which the IG reports specifying:

• the aggregate amount of funds requested for the operations of the OIG;

• the portion of this amount requested for OIG training, including a certification from the IG

that the amount requested satisfies all OIG training requirements for that fiscal year; and

• the portion of this amount necessary to support the Council of the Inspectors General on

Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).

The head of each establishment or designated Federal entity, in transmitting a proposed budget to 

the President for approval, shall include:

• an aggregate request for the OIG;

• the portion of this aggregate request for OIG training;

• the portion of this aggregate request for support of the CIGIE; and

• any comments of the affected IG with respect to the proposal.

The President shall include in each budget of the U.S. Government submitted to Congress:

• a separate statement of the budget estimate submitted by each IG;

• the amount requested by the President for each OIG;

• the amount requested by the President for training of OIGs;

• the amount requested by the President for support of the CIGIE; and

• any comments of the affected IG with respect to the proposal if the IG concludes that the 

budget submitted by the President would substantially inhibit the IG from performing the

duties of the OIG.

Following the requirements as specified above, the OIG of the Federal Election Commission 

submits the following information relating to the OIG’s requested budget for fiscal year 2020:

• the aggregate budget request for the operations of the OIG is $1,526,675;

• the portion of this amount needed for OIG training is $28,000; and

• the portion of this amount needed to support the CIGIE is an estimated $3,959.

As part of the budget request to OMB, prior to his departure, Deputy Inspector General J. 

Cameron Thurber certified on August 31st, 2018 that the amount requested for training satisfies 

all OIG training needs for fiscal year 2020. J. Cameron Thurber certified in the capacity as the 

head of the Inspector General Office during the absence of an Inspector General.