Federal Election Commission 

Agency Financial Report 

Fiscal Year 2020 
Federal Election Commission 

Agency Financial Report 

Fiscal Year 2020 

Federal Election Commission 

1050 First St. NE 

Washington, D.C. 20463 

(202) 694-1000 

1-(800) 424-9530 

www.fec.gov 

Released November 16, 2020 
Contents 

Message from the Chair 1 

How to Use This Report 3 

SECTION I – Management’s Discussion and Analysis 4 

Section I.A: Purpose, Responsibility, and Scope 4 

Mission Statement 5 

Organizational Structure 5 

Sources of Funds 8 

Risk Identification and Mitigation 10 

Section I.B: Performance Goals, Objectives and Results 13 

Strategic Goal 13 

Strategic Objectives 13 

Section I.C: Analysis of FEC Financial Statements and Stewardship Information 20 

Section I.D: Analysis of FEC’s Systems, Controls and Legal Compliance 23 

Annual Assurance Statement on Internal Control 25 

Section I.E: Limitations of the Financial Statements 26 

SECTION II – Auditor’s Report and Financial Statements 27 

Message from the Chief Financial Officer 28 

OIG Transmittal Letter 29 

Independent Auditor’s Report 31 

Financial Statements 53 

Notes to the Financial Statements 59 

SECTION III – Other Information 79 

Inspector General’s Statement on FEC Management and Performance Challenges 80 

Management’s Response to the Office of Inspector General’s Statement on the Federal Election 

Commission’s Management and Performance Challenges 94 

Payment Integrity 102 

Fraud Reduction Report 103 

Reporting on Internal Controls Assurances 104 

Civil Monetary Penalties Adjustment for Inflation 105 

APPENDIX 106 

List of Acronyms 106 
Message from the Chair 

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2 
How to Use This Report 

This Agency Financial Report presents financial information, as well as relevant performance 

information, on the Federal Election Commission’s operations. The report was prepared pursuant to 

the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 

Circular A-136, revised, Financial Reporting Requirements, and covers activities from October 1, 

2019 through September 30, 2020. 

The FEC places a high importance on keeping the public informed of its activities. To learn more 

about the FEC and what the agency does to serve the American public, visit the FEC’s website 

https://www.fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/strategy-budget-and-performance/. 

The FY 2020 Agency Financial Report is organized into three primary sections: 

Section I – Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) provides an overview of the FEC. It 

describes our mission, organizational structure and regulatory responsibilities. It also includes 

relevant performance information related to the FEC’s strategic goals and objectives to provide a 

forward-looking discussion of future challenges. 

Section II – Financial Information, including the Independent Auditor’s Report, detailing the FEC’s 

financial performance by 1) highlighting the agency’s financial position and audit results and 2) 

describing the FEC’s compliance with key legal and regulatory requirements. 

Section III – Other Information includes our Inspector General’s (IG) assessment of the FEC’s 

management challenges and the FEC’s response. 

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SECTION I – Management’s Discussion and Analysis 

Section I.A: Purpose, Responsibility, and Scope 

The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency responsible for 

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

amended (FECA or the Act).1

 Congress created the FEC to administer, enforce and formulate policy 

with respect to the FECA. 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. 

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. 

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, 

and the data contained in them, available to the public through the Commission’s internet-based 

public disclosure system on the Commission’s website, as well as in 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 regarding interpretation 

and application of the Act and the Commission’s regulations. 

Additionally, the Commission is 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. 

The FEC has chosen to produce an Agency Financial Report (AFR) and Annual Performance Report 

(APR) pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, as amended. The FEC will 

include its FY 2020 Annual Performance Report with its Congressional Budget Justification and will 

post it on the FEC website at https://www.fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/strategy-budget-andperformance/ in 2021. 

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). 

4 

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Mission Statement 

The FEC’s mission is to protect the integrity of the Federal campaign finance process by providing 

transparency and fairly enforcing and administering Federal campaign finance laws. 

Organizational Structure 

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 can 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 his or her sixyear 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 the affirmative vote of four members of the Commission to approve official actions, thus 

requiring bipartisan decision-making. The FEC has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and does 

not have any regional offices. 

The Federal Election Commission was without a quorum of four Commissioners for approximately 

11 months during FY 2020.2

 The Act requires the affirmative vote of four Commissioners for many 

actions. For example, the Commission cannot defend itself in some litigation, reach decisions in 

enforcement actions, issue advisory opinions or initiate rulemakings without the affirmative votes of 

four Commissioners. The FEC has identified the loss of a quorum as risk in the Agency-wide Risk 

Profile. Performance goals negatively affected by the loss of a quorum are noted in the discussion 

below. 

While the Act requires an affirmative vote by four Commissioners to make decisions in many areas, 

including regulations, advisory opinions, audit matters and enforcement, staff continues to further 

the agency’s vital mission of administering the nation’s campaign finance laws. The requirements of 

the Act and Commission regulations remain in effect, and political committees and other filers must 

continue to disclose their campaign finance activity to the Commission on the regular schedule. FEC 

staff continues to help committees and the public understand and comply with the law, process and 

review committee reports, and provide public access to campaign finance data. While the 

Commission cannot act on many legal matters, staff continues to litigate ongoing court cases, process 

new enforcement complaints and responses, and investigate matters previously authorized by the 

Commission. 

In response to the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, the Federal Election Commission 

closed its offices to visitors and directed all of its employees to telework as of Friday, March 13, 

2 The FEC began FY 2020 without a quorum. A quorum was restored on June 5, 2020, when Commissioner James E. “Trey” 

Trainor, III, was sworn in. The FEC again began working without a quorum on July 3, 2020, with the departure of Commissioner 

Caroline C. Hunter. 

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2020. A formal evacuation notice was issued the following week. Nevertheless, the FEC’s website, 

web-based programs and electronic filing systems have remained online, and staff access to phone 

and email has been uninterrupted. Most Commission operations were not interrupted by the 

transition to an exclusively teleworking agency. However, the Commission temporarily suspended 

its mail operations and ceased fingerprinting new employees. During the suspension of mail 

operations, the agency did not process any documents submitted on paper, including nonelectronically filed reports, advisory opinion requests, enforcement complaints and court-case 

documents. Website notices directed those interested in those activities to use email and explained 

the delayed processing of mail. On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the FEC began the initial phase of its 

return to normal operations. During Phase I of the FEC’s reopening, the agency’s offices remain 

closed to visitors, and most of its employees continue to telework. However, the FEC resumed 

processing mail, including any mail delivered since the agency suspended its mail operations in 

March 2020. Additionally, fingerprinting and onboarding new employees and contractors resumed. 

As noted in Figure 1, 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 below. 

Figure 1: FEC Organizational Chart 

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Ā 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 the processing and review of campaign finance reports and filing assistance, audits, 

administrative fines and alternative dispute resolution. The Office of Communications includes 

divisions charged with making campaign finance 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, 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). 

Ā 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. 

Ā 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 

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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. 

Ā Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) 

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer consists of three offices: (1) Budget; (2) Accounting; and 

(3) Procurement. The OCFO is responsible for complying with all financial management laws and 

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

Sources of Funds 

Figure 2 shows the agency’s appropriations and obligations from FY 2016 to FY 2020. 

$74 

$72 

$70 

$68 

in Millions

$66 

$64 

Appropriations 

Obligations 

$62 

$60 

FY 2016* FY 2017** FY 2018 FY 2019*** FY 2020 

* $5 million in 2 year funds related to the FEC office move not included in total. 

** $8 million in 2 year funds related to the FEC office move not included in total. 

*** December 22, 2018 through January 25, 2019 the FEC was shut down for 35 days. 

Figure 2: Summary of Funding (in millions of dollars) 

The FEC also has the authority to collect fees from attendees of agency-sponsored educational 

conferences. The Commission may use those fees to defray the costs of conducting those 

conferences. The Commission sets its registration fees at a level that covers only the costs incurred 

by the agency’s conference-management contractor, including meeting room rental and conference 

meals and compensation. All other conference-related expenses, such as materials and staff travel, 

are paid using appropriated funds. Registration fees for FY 2020 were $127,170. 

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Personnel vs. Non-Personnel Costs 

Figure 3 represents the Commission’s FY 2020 obligations by personnel and non-personnel costs. 

Personnel costs, which are primarily composed of salaries and employee benefits, accounted for 70.6 

percent of the FEC’s costs. The remaining 29.4 percent of the Commission’s costs was spent on nonpersonnel items, such as infrastructure and support, software and hardware, office rent, building 

security and other related costs. 

Facilities Other 

Salaries & Benefits 

70.6% 

Other Non-Personnel 

Initiatives 

20.5% 

6.5% 2.4% 

Figure 3: Fiscal Year 2020 by Major Category 

9 
Risk Identification and Mitigation 

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, the FEC formed a Senior Management Council (SMC) to manage internal 

control and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) efforts in response to new requirements outlined in 

OMB Circular A-123. The SMC delivered to OMB an agency-wide Risk Profile to assist in the 

effective management of risk areas impacting FEC strategic, operational, reporting, and compliance 

objectives. In FY 2018, the SMC took further steps toward effective management of risk by updating 

Commission Directive 53 Implementation of OMB Circular A-123: Internal Control Program to 

comply with ERM requirements. In FY 2018, 2019, and 2020 the SMC submitted an updated Risk 

Profile to OMB. 

 

As part of the annual Internal Control Review (ICR) process, program offices rated each risk from 

the Risk Profile, detailed how the risk affects their operations, and identified mitigating activities in 

place to respond to the risk. In addition, program offices thoroughly identified and evaluated fraud 

risk to support the Fraud Reduction Report. The current Agency-wide Risk Profile is shown below 

and further discussion on risk is discussed in the remaining MD&A sections. 

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11

Federal Election Commission - FY 2020 ERM Risk Profile

Identified Significant Risk Inherent Risk 

Rating Current Risk Response Residual Risk Rating Proposed Additional Action

Proposed 

Implementation/ 

Monitoring Process

Significant and Substantive 

Amendments to 

FECA/Pending Judicial 

Opinions

Medium Acceptance: monitoring Medium Not in Management’s Control OGC and 

Congressional Affairs

Absence of 

Quorum/Confirmation of 

Commissioners

Very High Reduction: Directive 10 Very High Not in Management’s Control OGC and 

Congressional Affairs

Significant Increase in 

Federal Election Campaign 

Disclosure Activity

High Reduction: infrastructure 

improvements Medium

Move to scalable cloud- based 

computing and development of 

new e- filing platform.

OCIO Performance/ 

Monitoring Reports

Changes to Governmentwide Directives including 

Human Capital and 

Operating Requirements

Medium Acceptance: monitoring Medium

Continue monitoring centralized 

repository for new executive 

orders, directives, memorandums, 

and other guidance.

OGC and OHR

Disruptions to Agency 

Operations Medium Acceptance: monitoring Medium

Not in Management’s control. 

Updates to the Disaster Recovery 

Plan, COOP, and Shutdown Plan. 

Monitor by Senior 

Management

Multiple Acting Positions, 

including key positions Very High Acceptance: monitoring High

Continue to support hiring 

initiatives and streamline hiring 

process. The ability to hire GS-15s 

and SLs when there is lack or 

quorum is out of Management’s 

control.

Personnel and Finance 

Committees
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Identified Significant Risk Inherent Risk 

Rating Current Risk Response Residual Risk 

Rating Proposed Additional Action

Proposed 

Implementation/ 

Monitoring Process

High Volume of Retirement 

Eligible Employees Medium Reduction: succession 

planning Medium

Encourage succession planning, 

cross-training, and pooling support 

services.

Retirement Eligibility 

Report

Major Functions Performed 

by One Individual Medium Reduction: cross-train and 

document processes Medium

Cross-train individuals to perform 

major functions. Document 

procedures and processes. 

Internal Controls

Privacy and Data Protection Medium Reduction: corrective actions 

and internal controls Medium

Continue to implement corrective 

actions and enhance internal 

controls.

Corrective Action 

Plan/Internal Controls

Assessments and System 

Authorizations Medium Reduction: corrective actions 

and internal controls Medium

Continue to implement corrective 

actions and enhance internal 

controls.

Corrective Action 

Plan/Internal Controls

Outdated Policies, 

Procedures, and 

Commission Directives 

Medium

Reduction: implementing, 

revising, and reviewing 

policies, procedures, and 

Directives.

Medium

Update policies, procedures, and 

Directives in response to the FEC 

move, new or revised regulatory 

guidance, and changing operating 

procedures.

Monitor as part of 

Internal Control 

Review
 

 

Section I.B: Performance Goals, Objectives and Results 

This section provides a summary of the results of the FEC’s key performance objectives, which are 

discussed in greater detail in the FEC’s FY 2020 APR.3

 This report will be part of the FEC’s FY 

2022 Congressional Budget Justification, which will be available at 

https://www.fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/strategy-budget-and-performance/ in 2021. 

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. 

Strategic Objectives 

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 high-performing 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. 

Objective 1: Engage and Inform the Public about Campaign Finance Data 

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.4

 The FEC is committed to providing timely and 

3 The FEC has identified senior-level 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 serve as measure managers and data quality 

leads to ensure the completeness, consistency and accuracy of the reported data of their respective strategic activity. 

4 In response to the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, the FEC closed its offices to visitors as of Friday, March 13, 2020. 

13 
 

 

 

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

During FY 2021, 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.5

 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 FEC had expected 

to begin the implementation phase of this project during FY 2021. However, COVID-19 related 

delays in fingerprinting and onboarding new staff and contractors subsequently contributed to delays 

in the FEC’s efforts to complete the development phase of the eFiling platform during FY 2020. As 

a result, the FEC expects to begin partial implementation of the new eFiling system during FY 2021 

and to complete implementation of the new eFiling platform during FY 2022. Full deployment to 

filers is expected for the 2023-2024 election cycle. 

The Commission is improving and refining its website through iterative development, ensuring the 

FEC continues to provide an effective, 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. 

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 2015 

Actual 

FY 2016 

Actual 

FY 2017 

Actual 

FY 2018 

Actual 

FY 2019 

Actual 

FY 2020 

Target 

FY 2020 

Actual 

FY 2021 

Target 

FY 2022 

Target 

92% 100% 96% 100% 94%6 95% 98% 95% 95% 

5 Available at https://fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/agency-operations/e-filing-study-2016/. 6 The agency’s ability to meet its target for this performance goal during FY 2019 was negatively impacted by the lapse in 

appropriations from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019. 

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Objective 2: Promote Compliance with the FECA and Related Statutes 

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 through its 

Information Division, Reports Analysis Division (RAD), Press Office and Office of Congressional, 

Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. The FEC measures its progress in meeting this Objective 

through two performance measures: one that measures the agency’s efforts to encourage voluntary 

compliance through educational outreach and information and another that measures the FEC’s 

efforts to seek adherence to FECA requirements through fair, effective and timely enforcement and 

compliance programs. Progress against these measures is detailed in the charts below. 

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 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. 

15 
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. These efforts are also important in monitoring 

and mitigating the risk that amendments to FECA or judicial opinions have on the campaign finance 

environment and the FEC’s goal of encouraging voluntary compliance with the Act. 

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 2015 

Actual 

FY 2016 

Actual 

FY 2017 

Actual 

FY 2018 

Actual 

FY 2019 

Actual 

FY 2020 

Target 

FY 2020 

Actual 

FY 2021 

Target 

FY 2022 

Target 

4.34 4.53 4.43 4.53 4.45 4.0 or higher 

on a 5.0 scale 

4.51 4.0 or 

higher on a 

5.0 scale 

4.0 or 

higher on a 

5.0 scale 

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. 

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17

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 the Reports Analysis Division (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. 

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 2015 

Actual

FY 2016 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2019 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2021 

Target

FY 2022 

Target

49% 38% 68% 62% 56% 50% 62% 50% 50%

Objective 3: Interpret the FECA and Related Statutes

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 that present a specific transaction or activity related to that 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. 

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

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

FY 2015 

Actual 

FY 2016 

Actual 

FY 2017 

Actual 

FY 2018 

Actual 

FY 2019 

Actual 

FY 2020 

Target 

FY 2020 

Actual 

FY 2021 

Target 

FY 2022 

Target 

100%7 100%8 100%9 100%10 100%11 100% 100%12 100% 100% 

7

 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. 8 The Commission obtained extensions to consider six advisory opinion requests in FY 2016. 9 The Commission obtained extensions to consider seven advisory opinion requests in FY 2017. 10 The Commission obtained an extension to consider one advisory opinion request in FY 2018. 11 The Commission obtained extensions to consider six advisory opinion requests in FY 2019; two of those extensions were 

lengthened by the partial Federal government shutdown during the first and second quarters of FY 2019. 12 Due to the lack of a quorum for most of FY 2020, the Commission sought extensions from all advisory opinion requestors. The 

Commission obtained extensions from seven of those requestors in FY 2020. Two advisory opinion requestors declined to grant an 

extension and, once the deadline for responding to those requests expired, the Commission notified those requestors that it was 

unable to approve an advisory opinion by the required affirmative vote of four commissioners. 

18 
 

 

 

 

Objective 4: Foster a Culture of High Performance 

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

commitment of its staff. The Commission is focused 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. 

The FEC is also implementing a multi-phase plan to reduce reliance on physical servers and migrate 

appropriate systems and data to a cloud environment. In conjunction with the redesign of the 

agency’s website, the FEC successfully migrated its largest database, the campaign finance database, 

to a cloud environment and shut down one physical data center during FY 2018. Cloud hosting offers 

a number of benefits for the FEC’s campaign finance database and website. The agency’s internet 

traffic is variable, with many more visitors accessing the website during election years and near 

reporting deadlines. With a cloud-hosted 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. During FY 2020, the FEC conducted a study to determine 

how best to migrate other appropriate systems and databases to the cloud, allowing the agency to 

realize greater efficiency and performance in future years. The FEC will focus on implementing the 

results of this study during FY 2021. 

The Commission’s records management program continues to make advancements, as described 

below. Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 will bring continued focus on updating the agency’s records 

schedules in compliance with the Transition to Electronic Records Memorandum, updating the 

agency’s Records Management Program, and training all staff on the agency and government-wide 

records schedules, policies and responsibilities. 

Performance Goal 4-1: Foster a workforce that delivers results. 

Key Indicator: Commission-required quarterly updates meet targeted performance 

goals. 

FY 2015 

Actual 

FY 2016 

Actual 

FY 2017 

Actual 

FY 2018 

Actual 

FY 2019 

Actual 

FY 2020 

Target 

FY 2020 

Actual 

FY 2021 

Target 

FY 2022 

Target 

80% 76% 85% 73% 53%13 65% 73%14 65% 65% 

13 The agency’s ability to meet its target for this performance goal during FY 2019 was negatively impacted by the lapse in 

appropriations from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019. 

14 The agency’s performance under this measure was negatively impacted by the lack of a quorum for most of FY 2020. 

19 
 

 

Section I.C: Analysis of FEC Financial Statements and Stewardship Information 

The FEC’s FY 2020 financial statements and notes are presented in the required format in accordance 

with OMB Circular A-136, as revised, Financial Reporting Requirements. The FEC’s current-year 

financial statements and notes are presented in a comparative format in Section II of this report. 

The following table summarizes the significant changes in the FEC’s financial position during FY 

2020: 

Net Financial 

Condition FY 2020 FY 2019 

Increase 

(Decrease) 

% 

Change 

Assets $36,566,339 $42,400,892 ($5,834,553) -14% 

Liabilities $16,039,162 $15,238,967 $800,195 5% 

Net Position $20,527,177 $27,161,925 ($6,634,748) -24% 

Net Cost $79,867,804 $69,259,101 $10,608,703 15% 

Budgetary Resources $79,061,462 $75,551,616 $3,509,846 5% 

Custodial Revenue $760,511 $2,906,662 ($2,146,151) -74% 

The following is a brief description of the nature of each required financial statement and its 

relevance. The effects of some significant balances or conditions on the FEC’s operations are 

explained. 

Balance Sheet 

The Balance Sheet presents the total amounts available for use by the FEC (assets) against the 

amounts owed (liabilities) and amounts that comprise the difference (Net Position). As a small 

independent agency, all of the FEC’s assets consist of Fund Balance with Treasury (FBWT), Property 

and Equipment (P&E) and Accounts Receivable. Fund Balance with Treasury (e.g., cash) is available 

through the Department of Treasury accounts, from which the FEC is authorized to make 

expenditures (i.e., obligations) and payments. FBWT decreased by approximately $2.7 million, or 

10 percent, from the prior year. 

Accounts Receivable primarily represent amounts due from the public for fines and penalties 

assessed by the FEC and referred to Treasury for collection, as deemed appropriate. In compliance 

with the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA), the OCFO takes into consideration the 

most appropriate approach to debt management. These amounts are not available for FEC operations 

and are sent to the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. Net accounts receivable decreased by 

approximately $230 thousand dollars from the prior year. 

Total assets decreased by $5.8 million from the prior year to $36.5 million. Total liabilities increased 

by approximately $800 thousand. 

Statement of Net Cost 

The Statement of Net Cost presents the annual cost of operating the FEC program. Gross costs are 

used to arrive at the total net cost of operations. The FEC’s total gross costs in administering the 

FECA experienced a 15% fluctuation from the prior year. 

20 
 

 

 

Statement of Changes in Net Position 

The Statement of Changes in Net Position presents in greater detail the net position section of the 

Balance Sheet, including Cumulative Results of Operations and Unexpended Appropriations. This 

statement identifies the activity that caused the net position to change during the reporting period. 

Total Net Position decreased by 24 percent, or approximately $7 million. In FY 2017, the FEC 

received approximately $8 million in two-year appropriated funds, which expired at the end of FY 

2018. 

Statement of Budgetary Resources 

The Statement of Budgetary Resources provides information on the source and status of budgetary 

resources made available to the FEC during the reporting period. It presents the relationship between 

budget authority and budget outlays, as well as the reconciliation of obligations to total outlays. Total 

Budgetary Resources and Status of Budgetary Resources increase by approximately $4 million, or 5 

percent, from the prior year. 

Statement of Custodial Activity 

The Statement of Custodial Activity represents an accounting of revenue and funds collected by the 

FEC that are owed to the U.S. Treasury’s general fund. These monies are not available for the FEC’s 

use. Collection and revenue activity primarily result from enforcement actions that come before the 

Commission during the fiscal year. Revenue and collections on the Statement of Custodial Activity 

consist of collections on new assessments, prior year(s) receivables and Miscellaneous Receipts. In 

FY 2020, the total custodial revenue and collections decreased by approximately $2 million from the 

prior year. 

21 
FIGURE 4 - FINES ASSESSED, BY FISCAL YEAR 

(in Millions of Dollars) 

$1.09 

$6.71 

$0.87 

FY 2000 FY 2020 

Figure 4: Fines Assessed, by Fiscal Year (in millions of dollars) 

 

The chart below displays the assessment history for the past 20 years.15 

Financial impact, if significant, of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 

The FY20 financial impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 on the Federal Election Commission was 

not significant. Approximately $20,000 was spent on COVID-19 PPE Equipment, Supplies, 

Equipment, Signage, and Mitigation Countermeasures. These expenditures were made with FY20 

appropriated funds allocated to the Administrative Services Division (ASD) within the scope of their 

normal budgetary purchasing authorities as outlined in the Management Plan. Expenditures were 

made either with the ASD Government Purchase Card, or through the GSA Advantage Supply 

Ordering Mechanism under the Supply & Materials Budget Object Class Code 26 Supplies and 

Materials. COVID-19 spending only utilized approximately 23% of the FEC’s Admin Office’s 

Supplies and Materials Budget for FY20. 

 

15 One MUR resolved during 2006 yielded the largest civil penalty in agency history, which was $3.8 million paid by Federal Home 

Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) for prohibited corporate activity. This 2006 penalty is the primary reason for the largest 

Fines Assessed (approximately $6.71 million) in Figure 4. 

22 
Section I.D: Analysis of FEC’s Systems, Controls and Legal Compliance 

I.D.i – FEC Integrated Internal Control Framework and Legal Compliance 

The Commission is subject to numerous legislative and regulatory requirements that promote and 

support effective internal controls. The FEC complies with the following laws and regulations: 

Annual Appropriation Law – establishes the FEC’s budget authority; 

The Antideficiency Act of 1884, as amended; 

Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended; 

Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982; 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990; 

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, as amended; 

Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996; 

Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996; 

Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, as amended; 

Chief Financial Officers Act, as amended by the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002; and 

Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act of 2015 

The proper stewardship of Federal resources is a fundamental responsibility of the FEC. These laws 

help the FEC improve the management of its programs and financial operations, and assure that 

programs are managed in compliance with applicable law. 

I.D.ii – Management Assurances 

The Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA) is implemented by OMB Circular 

A-123, revised, Management’s Responsibility for Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Control, 

with applicable appendices. The FEC management is responsible for establishing and maintaining 

effective internal control and financial management systems that meet the objectives of the FMFIA 

and for performing a self-assessment under the guidance of its Directive 53, Implementation of OMB 

Circular A-123, Internal Control Review. Directive 53 outlines the process and describes roles and 

responsibilities for conducting risk assessments and internal control reviews. 

Section 2 of the FMFIA requires Federal agencies to report, based on annual assessments, any 

material weaknesses that have been identified in connection with their internal and administrative 

controls. The reviews that took place during FY 2020 provide unqualified assurance that FEC 

systems and management controls comply with the requirements of the FMFIA. 

Section 4 of the FMFIA requires that agencies annually provide assurance on programmatic internal 

controls and financial management systems, and effectiveness of internal control over financial 

reporting. The FEC evaluated its financial management systems in accordance with the FMFIA, 

23 
 

 

 

 

OMB Circular A-123, as applicable, and reviewed the Statements on Standards for Attestation 

Engagements, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization (SSAE 18) reports received from its 

shared service providers. The results of management reviews provided that the FEC’s financial 

systems controls generally conform to the required principles and standards as per Section 4 of the 

FMFIA. 

Enterprise Risk Management 

In the current fiscal year, the FEC, led by the Senior Management Council (SMC), updated its 

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Risk Profile which captures enterprise level risks, as required 

by the revised OMB Circular A-123. The SMC identified a total of eleven enterprise level risks the 

agency faces when seeking to achieve strategic, operational, and compliance objectives and rated 

these risk as being a medium or high inherent risk. The Risk Profile was delivered to the Office of 

the Inspector General (OIG) and OMB. The SMC looks forward to continuing to work closely with 

OIG to remediate any weaknesses which the OIG may deem to be at the level of a material weakness. 

Prompt Payment Act 

The Prompt Payment Act (PPA) requires Federal agencies to make timely vendor payments and to 

pay interest penalties when payments are late. The FEC’s on-time payment rate for FY 2020 was 

nearly 100 percent, with less than 0.27 percent of all invoices paid after the date required by the PPA. 

Improper Payments 

The Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) of 2002, as amended by the Improper Payments 

Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA) of 2010, Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 

Improvement Act (IPERIA) of 2012, and the Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) of 2019 and 

OMB guidance require agencies to identify programs that are susceptible to significant improper 

payments, and determine an annual estimated amount of improper payments made in their 

operations. The FEC reviewed all of its programs and activities to identify those susceptible to 

significant improper payments. Approximately 72 percent of the FEC’s obligations pertain to salaries 

and benefits, which represents a low risk for improper payments, based on established internal 

controls. The FEC also reviewed all of its FY 2020 non-personnel procurements, charge card, and 

payroll costs to verify their accuracy and completeness. Accordingly, the FEC is unaware of any 

improper payments. The FEC continues to monitor its payment and internal control process to ensure 

that the risk of improper payments remains low. 

24 
 

Annual Assurance Statement on Internal Control 

25 
 

Section I.E: Limitations of the Financial Statements 

The principal financial statements have been prepared to report the financial position and results of 

operations of the FEC pursuant to the requirements of 31 U.S.C. §3515(b). While the statements 

have been prepared from the books and records of the FEC in accordance with United States 

generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for Federal entities and the formats prescribed by 

the OMB, the statements are in addition to the financial reports used to monitor and control budgetary 

resources which are prepared from the same books and records. 

The statements should be read with the realization that they are for a component of the U.S. 

Government, a sovereign entity. 

26 
 

SECTION II – Auditor’s Report and Financial Statements 

27 
Message from the Chief Financial Officer 

28 
OIG Transmittal Letter 

29 
30 
Independent Auditor’s Report 

31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
14 

Exhibit B - Status of Prior Year’s Findings and Recommendations 

Status as of 

September 30,

2020 

Number Status of FY 2019 and Prior Year’s Audit Recommendations

1. Take actions to ensure that the agency’s CAP includes all of the

requirements of Commission Directive A-50 and OMB Circular A-123. 

Open

See Finding 5 

2. Complete the project relating to review of user access authorities and

ensure necessary budgetary and personnel resources are provided to

complete this project in a timely manner.

Open

See Finding 1 

3. Finalize the draft FEC policies that require annual recertification of

users’ access authorities. Ensure that the policies address privileged

accounts, and require validation to actual system access records, by

supervisory personnel who would have knowledge of the users’

requirements for accessing FEC information and information systems.

Open

See Finding 1 

4. Implement USGCB baseline configuration standards for all workstations

regardless of the current hardware in use. Closed

5. Ensure that sufficient resources are assigned to the task of testing the

COOP, a critical IT control process, in order to reduce risk to the FEC,

and complete all requires tests in a timely manner.

Open

See Finding 3 

6. Develop system specific contingency plans, as required by the NIST

RMF.

Open

See Finding 3

7. Develop and update, a plan of action and milestones for the information 

system that documents the organization’s planned, implemented, and

evaluated remedial actions to correct deficiencies noted during the

assessment of the security controls and to reduce or eliminate known 

vulnerabilities in the system.

Open

See Finding 5 

8. Review information system accounts in accordance with organizationdefined frequency; and the FEC initiates required actions on information 

system accounts based on the review.

Open 

See Finding 1

9. Update the FEC’s Segregation of Duties Policy to include defini

information system access authorizations to support separation of duties.

ng Closed

10. Implement session lockout control in accordance with organizationdefined procedures. Closed
48 
49 
50 
51 
 

This page marks the end of the Independent Auditor’s Report 

52 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financial Statements 

BALANCE SHEET 

As of September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in dollars) 

2020 2019 

Assets: (Note 2)

 Intragovernmental:

 Fund Balance With Treasury (Note 3) 

 Total Intragovernmental 

$ 23,431,710 

23,431,710 

$ 26,164,174 

26,164,174

 Accounts Receivable, net (Note 4) 

 General Property, Plant and Equipment, Net (Note 5) 

Total Assets $ 

352,810 

12,781,818 

36,566,338 $ 

583,160

15,653,558 

42,400,892 

Liabilities: (Note 6)

 Intragovernmental:

 Accounts Payable 

 Other: (Note 7)

 Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable 

 Other Post Employment Benefits Due and Payable 

 Unfunded FECA Liability 

 Custodial Liability (Note 12) 

 Deferred Rent (Note 9) 

 Total Intragovernmental 

$ 1,249,618 

555,293 

3,500 

-

352,811 

7,254,175 

9,415,397 

$ 276,752 

413,442

3,500

61

583,160

7,850,409

9,127,324

 Accounts Payable 

 Federal Employees and Veterans Benefits 

 Other: (Note 7)

 Accrued Funded Payroll and Leave 

 Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable 

 Unfunded Leave 

 Liability for Advances and Prepayments 

Total Liabilities $ 

1,037,120 

232 

1,884,885 

84,731 

3,546,642 

70,155 

16,039,162 $ 

1,363,678

7,792

1,505,528

65,896

3,112,591

56,158 

15,238,967 

Net Position:

 Unexpended Appropriations - All Other Funds

 (Consolidated Totals) 

 Cumulative Results of Operations - All Other Funds

 (Consolidated Totals) 

 Total Net Position - All Other Funds

$ 18,546,408 

1,980,769 

$ 22,479,219 

4,682,706

 (Consolidated Totals) 

 Total Net Position 

Total Liabilities and Net Position $ 

20,527,177 

20,527,177 

36,566,338 $ 

27,161,925

27,161,925 

42,400,892 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. 

53 
 

 

 

STATEMENT OF NET COST 

For The Years Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in dollars) 

2020 2019 

Program Costs: 

Administering and Enforcing the FECA

 Gross Costs $ 80,027,415 $ 69,333,519 

 Less: Earned Revenue 112,883 74,418

 Net Program Costs 79,914,532 69,259,101 

Net Cost of Operations $ 79,914,532 $ 69,259,101 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. 

54 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET POSITION 

For The Years Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in dollars) 

FY 2020 

All Other Funds 

(Consolidated Consolidated Total 

Unexpended Appropriations: 

Beginning Balance $ 22,479,219 $ 22,479,219 

Budgetary Financing Sources: 

Appropriations received 71,497,000 71,497,000 

Other adjustments (476,424) (476,424) 

Appropriations used (74,953,387) (74,953,387) 

Total Budgetary Financing Sources (3,932,812) (3,932,812) 

Total Unexpended Appropriations 18,546,408 18,546,408 

Cumulative Results from Operations: 

Beginning Balances 4,682,706 4,682,706 

Beginning balance, as adjusted 4,682,706 4,682,706 

Budgetary Financing Sources: 

Appropriations used 74,953,387 74,953,387 

Other 46,728 46,728 

Other Financing Sources (Non-Exchange): 

Imputed financing 2,259,208 2,259,208 

Other (46,728) (46,728) 

Total Financing Sources 77,212,595 77,212,595 

Net Cost of Operations 79,914,532 79,914,532 

Net Change (2,701,937) (2,701,937) 

Cumulative Results of Operations 1,980,769 1,980,769 

Net Position $ 20,527,177 $ 20,527,177 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. 

55 
 

 

 

 

 6,057,271 6,057,271 

 22,479,219 22,479,219 

 6,247,456 6,247,456 

 6,247,456 6,247,456 

 64,806,485 64,806,485 

 2,887,867 2,887,867 

 67,694,351 67,694,351 

 69,259,101 69,259,101 

 (1,564,750) (1,564,750) 

 4,682,706 4,682,706 

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET POSITION 

For The Years Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in dollars) 

FY 2019 

Budgetary Financing Sources: 

Appropriations used 

Other Financing Sources (Non-Exchange): 

Imputed financing (Note 10) 

Total Financing Sources 

Net Cost of Operations 

Net Change 

Cumulative Results of Operations 

Net Position $ 27,161,925 $ 27,161,925 

All Other Funds 

(Consolidated 

Totals) Consolidated Total 

Unexpended Appropriations: 

Beginning Balance $ 16,421,949 $ 16,421,949 

Budgetary Financing Sources: 

Appropriations received 

Other adjustments 

Appropriations used 

Total Budgetary Financing Sources 

Total Unexpended Appropriations 

Cumulative Results from Operations: 

Beginning Balances 

Beginning balance, as adjusted 

 71,250,000 71,250,000 

 (386,245) (386,245) 

 (64,806,485) (64,806,485) 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. 

56 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF BUDGETARY RESOURCES 

For The Years Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in dollars) 

2020 2019 

Budgetary Budgetary 

BUDGETARY RESOURCES 

Unobligated balance from prior year budget authority, net 

(discretionary and mandatory) 

Appropriations (discrectionary and mandatory) 

Spending authority from offsetting collections (discretionary and 

mandatory) 

$ 7,439,271 

71,497,000 

125,191 

$ 4,169,352 

71,250,000 

132,264 

Total budgetary resources (Note 11) $ 79,061,462 $ 75,551,616 

STATUS OF BUDGETARY RESOURCES 

New obligations and upward adjustments (total) 

Unobligated balance, end of year: 

Apportioned, unexpired account 

Unapportioned, unexpired accounts 

Unexpired unobligated balance, end of year 

Expired unobligated balance, end of year 

Unobligated balance, end of year (total) 

Total budgetary resources 

$ 

$ 

72,007,887 

374,272 

-

374,272 

6,679,303 

7,053,575 

79,061,462 

$ 

$ 

69,232,534 

2,851,236 

7,264 

2,858,500 

3,460,582 

6,319,082 

75,551,616 

OUTLAYS, NET 

Outlays, net (discretionary and mandatory) 

Agency outlays, net (discretionary and mandatory) (Note 11, 14) $ 

73,753,039 

73,753,039 $ 

64,987,148 

64,987,148 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. 

57 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF CUSTODIAL ACTIVITY 

For The Years Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 

2020 2019 

Revenue Activity

 Sources of cash collections

 Civil penalties 

 Administrative fines 

 Miscellaneous receipts 

 Total cash collections 

 Accrual adjustments 

 Total custodial revenue (Note 12) 

$ 

$ 

831,658 

136,799 

22,404 

990,861 

(230,350) 

760,511 

$ 

$ 

2,046,477 

362,800

361,361

2,770,638

136,024

2,906,662 

Disposition of Collections

 Transferred to Treasury 

 Amount yet to be transferred 

 Total disposition of collections 

 Net custodial activity 

$ 

$ 

990,861 

(230,350) 

760,511 

-

$ 

$ 

2,770,638

136,024

2,906,662 

-

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. 

58 
 

Notes to the Financial Statements 

Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies 

Reporting Entity 

The Federal Election Commission (FEC or Commission) was created in 1975 as an independent 

regulatory agency with exclusive responsibility for administering, enforcing, defending and 

interpreting the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), 2 U.S.C. 431 et seq., as amended 

(“the Act”). The Commission is also responsible for administering the public funding programs (26 

U.S.C. §§ 9001- 9039) for Presidential campaigns, which include certification and audits of all 

participating candidates and committees, and enforcement of public funding legislation. 

The financial activity presented relates to the execution of the FEC’s Congressionally approved 

budget. Consistent with Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board’s (FASAB) Statement of 

Federal Financial Accounting Concept No. 2, “Entity and Display,” the Presidential Election 

Campaign Fund is not a reporting entity of the FEC. Financial activity of the fund is budgeted, 

apportioned, recorded, reported and paid by the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury). The 

accounts of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund are therefore not included in the FEC’s 

financial statements. 

Basis of Accounting and Presentation 

As required by the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002, the accompanying financial statements 

present the financial position, net cost of operations, changes in net position, budgetary 

resources and custodial activity of the FEC. While these financial statements have been prepared 

from the books and records of the FEC in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting 

principles (GAAP) for the Federal Government and in accordance with the form and content for 

entity financial statements specified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Circular 

A-136, as revised, Financial Reporting Requirements, as well as the accounting policies of the FEC, 

the statements may differ from other financial reports submitted pursuant to OMB directives for the 

purpose of monitoring and controlling the use of the FEC’s budgetary resources. 

These financial statements reflect both accrual and budgetary accounting transactions. Under the 

accrual method of accounting, revenues are recognized when earned and expenses are 

recognized when a liability is incurred, without regard to receipt or payment of cash. Budgetary 

accounting is designed to recognize the obligation of funds according to legal requirements. 

Budgetary accounting is essential for compliance with legal constraints and controls over the use of 

federal funds. 

Throughout these financial statements, assets, liabilities, revenues and costs have been classified 

according to the type of entity with which the transactions are associated. Intragovernmental assets 

and liabilities are those resulting from transactions with other federal entities. Intragovernmental 

earned revenues are collections or accruals of revenue from other federal entities and 

intragovernmental costs are payments or accruals to other federal entities. These statements should 

be read with the understanding that they are for a component of the Federal Government, a sovereign 

entity. 

59 
Assets 

Assets that an entity is authorized to use in its operations are termed entity assets, whereas assets 

that are held by an entity and are not available for the entity’s use are termed non-entity assets. Most 

of the FEC’s assets are entity assets and are available for use in carrying out the mission of the FEC 

as appropriated by Congress. The FEC also has non-entity assets which primarily consist of 

receivables from fines and penalties. These custodial collections are not available to the FEC to 

use in its operations and must be transferred to Treasury. 

Fund Balance with Treasury 

The FEC does not maintain cash in commercial bank accounts. Treasury processes cash receipts and 

disbursements. Fund Balance with Treasury consists of appropriated funds and custodial collections. 

With the exception of the custodial collections, these funds are available to pay current liabilities 

and finance authorized purchase commitments. Custodial collections, which are not available to 

finance FEC activities, are classified as non-entity assets. 

Accounts Receivable 

The FEC’s Accounts Receivable mainly represents amounts due from the public for fines and 

penalties assessed by the FEC and referred to Treasury for collection. The FEC establishes an 

allowance for the estimated loss on accounts receivable from the public that are deemed 

uncollectible accounts. This allowance is included in Accounts Receivable, net on the balance 

sheet. The allowance is a percentage of the overall receivable balance, based on the collection 

rate of past balances. 

General Property and Equipment 

General Property and Equipment (P&E) is reported at acquisition cost, and consists of items that are 

used by the FEC to support its mission. Depreciation or amortization on these assets is calculated 

using the straight-line method with zero salvage value. Depreciation or amortization of an asset 

begins the day it is placed in service. Maintenance, repairs and minor renovations are expensed as 

incurred. Expenditures that materially increase the value, capacity or useful life of existing assets 

are capitalized. Refer to Note 5 General Property and Equipment, Net for additional details. 

Liabilities 

Liabilities represent amounts that are likely to be paid by the FEC as the result of transactions or 

events that have already occurred; however, no liabilities are paid by the FEC without an 

appropriation. Intragovernmental liabilities arise from transactions with other federal entities. 

Liabilities classified as not covered by budgetary resources are liabilities for which 

appropriations have not been enacted (e.g., annual leave benefits and actuarial liability under the 

Federal Employees Compensation Act), or those resulting from the agency’s custodial activities. 

The FEC has an intragovernmental liability to Treasury for fines, penalties and miscellaneous 

receipts which are due from the public but have not yet transferred. These funds may not be used to 

fund FEC operations. 

Accounts Payable 

Accounts Payable consists of liabilities to other entities or persons for amounts owed for goods and 

services received that have not yet been paid at the end of the fiscal year. Accounts Payable also 

consists of disbursements in-transit, which are payables that have been recorded by the FEC and are 

60 
pending payment by Treasury. In addition to accounts payables recorded through normal business 

activities, unbilled payables are estimated based on historical data. 

Accrued Payroll and Employer Contribution 

Accrued payroll and benefits represent salaries, wages and benefits earned by employees, but not 

yet disbursed as of the statement date. Accrued payroll and Thrift Savings Plan contributions are 

not classified as intragovernmental. Employer contributions and payroll taxes payable are classified 

as intragovernmental. 

Annual, Sick and Other Leave 

Annual leave is recorded as a liability when it is earned by FEC employees; the liability is reduced 

as leave is taken. On a quarterly basis, the balance in the accrued leave account is adjusted to reflect 

the current leave balances and pay rates. Accrued annual leave is paid from future funding sources 

and is reflected as a liability not covered by budgetary resources. Sick leave and other types of 

non-vested leave are expensed as taken. 

Federal Employee Benefits 

A liability is recorded for estimated and actual future payments to be made for workers’ 

compensation pursuant to the Federal Employees Compensation Act. The liability consists of the 

net present value of estimated future payments calculated by the Department of Labor (DOL) 

and the actual unreimbursed cost paid by DOL for compensation paid to recipients under the Federal 

Employee’s Compensation Act. The future workers' compensation estimate is generated by DOL 

through an application of actuarial procedures developed to estimate the liability for the Federal 

Employee’s Compensation Act, which includes the expected liability for death, disability, 

medical and miscellaneous costs for approved compensation cases. The liability is calculated using 

historical benefit payment patterns related to a specific incurred period to estimate the total payments 

related to that period. These projected annual benefits payments are discounted to present value. 

Employee Retirement Plans 

Each fiscal year, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimates the Federal Government 

service cost for all covered employees. This estimate represents an annuity dollar amount which, if 

accumulated and invested each year of an employee’s career, would provide sufficient funding to 

pay for that employee’s future benefits. As the Federal Government’s estimated service cost exceeds 

the amount of contributions made by employer agencies and covered employees, this plan is not 

fully funded by the FEC and its employees. As of September 30, 2020, the FEC recognized 

approximately $ 2,259,200 as an imputed cost and related financing source, for the difference 

between the estimated service cost and the contributions made by the FEC and its employees. This 

represents a 22% decrease when compared to the $ 2,887,900 of imputed cost and related financing 

source recognized in Fiscal Year 2019. 

FEC employees participate in either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal 

Employees Retirement System (FERS), which became effective on January 1, 1987. For employees 

participating in CSRS, the FEC withheld 7% of base pay earnings and provided a matching 

contribution equal to the sum of the withholding. For employees covered by FERS, the FEC 

withheld .8% of base pay earnings and provided the agency contribution. The majority of FEC 

employees hired after December 31, 1983, are automatically covered by FERS. 

61 
Effective January 1, 2013, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 created a new 

FERS retirement category, Revised Annuity Employees (RAE) for new federal employees hired in 

calendar year (CY) 2013 or thereafter. In FY 2020, the FERS-RAE employee contribution rate was 

3.1%. 

Effective January 1, 2014, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 introduced a new FERS retirement 

category, Further Revised Annuity Employees (FRAE) for new federal employees hired in CY 

2014 and thereafter. In FY 2020, the FERS-FRAE employee contribution rate was 4.4%. 

FERS contributions made by employer agencies and covered employees are comparable to the 

Federal Government’s estimated service costs. For FERS covered employees, the FEC made 

contributions of 15.8% of basic pay for FY 2020. For both FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE 

covered employees, the FEC made contributions of 9.4% and 14.2% respectfully of basic pay for 

FY 2020. 

Employees participating in FERS are covered under the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA), 

for which the FEC contributed 6.2% to the Social Security Administration in FY 2020. Effective in 

FY 2012 FERS and CSRS – Offset employees were granted a 2% decrease in Social Security for 

tax year (CY) 2012 under the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011; and H.R. 3630, 

the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. During FY 2013, employees contributed 

4.2% to Social Security through December 31, 2012. Effective January 1, 2013 the employee 

contribution rate is 6.2%. 

Thrift Savings Plan 

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings and investment plan for employees 

covered by either CSRS or FERS. The TSP is administered by the Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board on behalf of federal agencies. For employees belonging to FERS, the FEC 

automatically contributes 1% of base pay to their account and matches contributions up to an 

additional 4%. For employees belonging to CSRS, there is no governmental matching contribution. 

The FEC does not report on its financial statements CSRS and FERS assets, accumulated plan 

benefits or unfunded liabilities, if any, which may be applicable to FEC employees. Reporting such 

amounts is the responsibility of the Office of Personnel Management. The portion of the current and 

estimated future outlays for CSRS and FERS not paid by the FEC is in accordance with Statement 

of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) No. 5, Accounting for Liabilities of the Federal 

Government, and is included in the FEC's financial statements as an imputed financing source. 

Commitments and Contingencies 

A contingency is an existing condition, situation or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to 

possible gain or loss. The uncertainty will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events 

occur or fail to occur. SFFAS No. 5, as amended by SFFAS No. 12, Recognition of Contingent 

Liabilities Arising from Litigation, contains the criteria for recognition and disclosure of 

contingent liabilities. A contingency is recognized in the financial statements when a past event or 

exchange transaction has occurred, a future outflow or other sacrifice of resources is probable and 

the future outflow or sacrifice of resources is measurable. A contingency is disclosed in the 

footnotes when any of the conditions for liability recognition are not met and the chance of the 

future confirming event or events occurring is more than remote but less than probable. In other 

words, contingent losses that are assessed as probable and measurable are accrued in the financial 

statements. Losses that are assessed to be at least reasonably possible are disclosed in the notes. 

62 
According to OMB Circular A-136, as revised, in addition to the contingent liabilities required 

by SFFAS No. 5, the following commitments should be disclosed: 1) an estimate of obligations 

related to cancelled appropriations for which the reporting entity has a contractual commitment for 

payment; and 2) amounts for contractual arrangements which may require future financial 

obligations. The FEC does not have commitments related to cancelled appropriations or amounts 

for contractual arrangements that would require future financial obligations. 

Revenues and Other Financing Sources 

Annual Appropriation 

As a component of the Government-wide reporting entity, the FEC is subject to the Federal budget 

process, which involves appropriations that are provided annually and appropriations that are 

provided on a permanent basis. The financial transactions that are supported by budgetary resources, 

which include appropriations, are generally the same transactions reflected in agency and the 

Government-wide financial reports. 

The FEC received all of its funding through an annual appropriation as provided by Congress. 

Additionally, the FEC received funding through reimbursement for services provided to other 

Federal agencies. Services performed for other Federal agencies under reimbursable agreements are 

financed through the account providing the service and reimbursements are recognized as revenue 

when earned. 

The FEC’s budgetary resources reflect past congressional action and enable the entity to incur 

budgetary obligations, but they do not reflect assets to the Government as a whole. Budgetary 

obligations are legal obligations for goods, services, or amounts to be paid based on statutory 

provisions (e.g., Social Security benefits). After budgetary obligations are incurred, Treasury will 

make disbursements to liquidate the budgetary obligations and finance those disbursements in the 

same way it finances all disbursements, using some combination of receipts, other inflows, and 

borrowing from the public (if there is a budget deficit). 

Imputed Financing Sources 

In accordance with OMB Circular A-136, as revised, all expenses should be reported by agencies 

whether or not these expenses would be paid by the agency that incurs the expense. The amounts 

for certain expenses of the FEC, which will be paid by other federal agencies, are recorded in the 

Statement of Net Cost (SNC). A corresponding amount is recognized in the “Statement of Changes 

in Net Position” as an “Imputed Financing Source.” These imputed financing sources primarily 

represent unfunded pension costs of FEC employees, as described above. 

Statement of Net Cost 

Net cost of operations is the total of the FEC’s expenditures. The presentation of the statement is 

based on the FEC’s strategic plan, which presents one program that is based on the FEC’s 

mission and strategic goal. The program that reflects this strategic goal is to administer and enforce 

the Federal Election Campaign Act efficiently and effectively. 

Net Position 

Net position is the residual difference between asset and liabilities and consists of unexpended 

appropriations and cumulative results of operations. Unexpended appropriations include the portion 

of the FEC’s appropriations represented by undelivered orders and unobligated balances. 

63 
Unobligated balances associated with appropriations that expire at the end of the fiscal year remain 

available for obligation adjustments, but not for new obligations, until that account is cancelled, five 

years after the appropriations expire. Cumulative results of operations represent the excess of 

financing sources over expenses since inception. 

Statement of Custodial Activity 

The Statement of Custodial Activity summarizes collections transferred or transferable to Treasury 

for miscellaneous receipts, fines and penalties assessed by the FEC. These amounts are not 

available for FEC operations, and accordingly, are reported as custodial revenue. 

Use of Estimates 

The preparation of the accompanying financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires 

management to make certain estimates and assumptions that directly affect the reported amounts 

of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Actual results could differ from these estimates. 

Classified Activities 

Accounting standards require all reporting entities to disclose that accounting standards allow 

certain presentations and disclosures to be modified, if needed, to prevent the disclosure of 

classified information. The FEC has no classified activities. 

 

64 
 

Note 2 Non-Entity Assets 

Non–entity assets, which primarily represent amounts due to the FEC for fines and penalties on 

those that violated the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act, consisted of the 

following as of September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019: 

65 
Note 3 Fund Balance with Treasury 

Fund Balance with Treasury consisted of the following as of September 30, 2020 and September 30, 

2019: 

Available unobligated balances represent amounts that are apportioned for obligation in the current 

fiscal year. Unavailable unobligated balances represent amounts that are not apportioned for 

obligation during the current fiscal year and expired appropriations that are no longer available to 

incur new obligations. Obligated balances not yet disbursed include amounts designated for payment 

of goods and services ordered but not received, or goods and services received but for which payment 

has not yet been made. 

66 
 

 

 

 

Note 4 - Accounts Receivables, Net 

All accounts receivable are with the public and consisted of the following as of September 30, 

2020 and September 30, 2019: 

Non-Entity receivables consist of civil penalties and administrative fines assessed by the FEC 

through its enforcement processes or conciliation agreements reached with parties. The FEC has 

three offices that administer the penalties: the Office of General Counsel (OGC); the Office of 

Administrative Review (OAR); and the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Each office 

has a distinct role in the enforcement and collection process. The allowance is based on the 

historical rate of collection and an overall assessment of the debtor’s willingness and ability to pay. 

Delinquent debts are referred to Treasury in accordance with the Debt Collection Improvement Act 

of 1996. The terms of the agreement between the FEC and the parties establish the conditions for 

collection. 

67 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Note 5 General Property and Equipment, Net 

General Property and Equipment (P&E) is reported at acquisition cost. The capitalization threshold 

is established at $25,000 and a useful life of two or more years. For bulk purchases, items are 

capitalized when the individual useful lives are at least two years and have an aggregate 

value of $250,000 or more. Acquisitions of P&E that do not meet the capitalization criteria are 

recorded as operating expenses. 

General P&E consists of items that are used by the FEC to support its mission. Depreciation or 

amortization on these assets is calculated using the straight-line method with no salvage value. 

Depreciation or amortization begins the day the asset is placed in service. Maintenance, repairs and 

minor renovations are expensed as incurred. Expenditures that materially increase values, change 

capacities or extend useful lives are capitalized. 

Effective FY 2017, the estimated useful life of assets such as office furniture and motor vehicles is 

five years. The estimated useful life of assets such as office equipment, IT equipment, IT software, 

telecommunications equipment, and audio/visual equipment is three years. 

The office building in which the FEC operates is leased through the General Services Administration 

(GSA) under an occupancy agreement, which manages the lease agreement between the Federal 

Government and the commercial leasing entity. The FEC is billed by GSA for the leased space 

based upon estimated lease payments made by GSA plus an administrative fee. The cost of the office 

building is not capitalized. The costs of any leasehold improvements, which are managed through 

GSA, are financed with FEC appropriated funds. Construction costs of $25,000 or more are 

accumulated as construction in progress until completion and then are transferred and capitalized as 

a leasehold improvement. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the lesser of five years or the 

remaining life of the lease term. 

The internal use software development and acquisition costs capitalization threshold changed as a 

result of a new policy that was implemented in FY 2011. Internal use software development and 

acquisition costs of $250,000 are capitalized as software in development until the development stage 

is completed and the software is tested and accepted. At acceptance, costs of software in 

development are reclassified as internal use software costs and amortized using the straight-line 

method over an estimated useful life of three years. Purchased commercial software that does not 

meet the capitalization criteria is expensed. In addition, enhancements which do not add significant 

new capability or functionality are also expensed. 

The general components of capitalized property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation or 

amortization, consisted of the following as of September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, 

respectively: 

68 
69 

2020 

Service Life 

(years) 

Acquisition 

Value 

Accwnulated 

Depreciation/Am 

ortization 

Asset Class Net Book Value 

Software 3 $ 19,935,722 $ 17,683,340 $ 2,252,382 

Computers and peripherals 3 $ 3,328,407 $ 2,449,332 $ 879,075 

Furniture 5 $ $ $ 

Leasehold Improvements 5 $ 10,125,947 $ 4,950,903 r $ 5,175,044 

Software-in-Development n/a $ 4,475,317 $ $ 4,475,317 

Total $ 37,865,393 $ 25,083,575 $ 12,781,818 

2019 

Service Life 

(years) 

Acquisition 

Value 

Accwnulated 

Depreciation/Am 

ortization 

Asset Class Net Book Value

Software 3 $ 18,703,643 $ 14,228,331 $ 4,475,312 

Computers and peripherals 3 $ 3,067,116 $ 3,067,116 $ 

Furniture 5 $ 852,754 $ 852,754 $ 

Leasehold Improvements 5 $ 9,964,256 $ 2,697,201 $ 7,267,055 

Software-in-Development n/a $ 3,911,191 $ $ 3,911,191 

Total $ 36,498,960 $ 20,845,402 $ 15,653,558 
Note 6 Liabilities Not Covered by Budgetary Resources 

Liabilities Not Covered by Budgetary Resources consisted of the following as of September 30, 2020 

and September 30, 2019: 

2020 2019 

Intragovenunental: 

Custodial Fines and Civil Penalties $ 352,810 $ 583,160 

Defetnd Rent 7,254,175 7,850,409 

Unfunded FECA Liability 61 

Total Intragovenunental 7,606,985 8,433,630 

With Tite Public: 

Unfunded Annual Leave 3,546,642 3,112,591

Liabilities for Advances and Prepayments 70,155 56,158 

Actuarial FECA Liability 232 7,792 

Total Liabilities Not Covered by Budgetary Resources $ 11,153,859 $ 11,554,013 

Total Liabilities Covered by Budgetary Resources $ 4,815,148 $ 3,628,796 

Total Liabilities Not Requiring Budgetary Resources $ 70,155 $ 56,158 

Total Liabilities $ 16,039,162 $ 15,238,967 

Liabilities not covered by budgetary resources require future congressional action whereas 

liabilities covered by budgetary resources reflect prior congressional action. Regardless of when 

the congressional action occurs, when the liabilities are liquidated, Treasury will finance the 

liquidation in the same way that it finances all other disbursements, using some combination of 

receipts, other inflows, and borrowing from the public (if there is a budget deficit). Liabilities that 

do not require the use of budgetary resources are covered by monetary assets that are not budgetary 

resources to the entity. 

Beginning FY 2018, the FEC entered into a new lease agreement for its office building that provided 

a rent abatement of $8,943,504, which covers the equivalent of 22 months of rent. Consistent with 

generally accepted accounting principles, the FEC has recorded rent abatement as deferred rent, 

which is amortized over the life of the ten-year lease. 

The FEC accrued a liability related to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act as of September 

30, 2020 and September 30, 2019. 

Liabilities for Advances and Prepayments consist of unearned revenue from registration fees 

collected for the Regional Campaign Finance Conferences. As part of its program to encourage 

voluntary compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Federal Election Commission 

hosts educational conferences throughout the country. The FEC has received additional 

reimbursable authority for FY 2020 for conferences. 

70 
Note 7 Other Liabilities 

As of September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, respectively, components of amounts reported 

on the Balance Sheet as Other Intragovernmental Liabilities and Other Liabilities along with a 

categorization of current versus long-term are as follows: 

71 

2020 Non-CU1Tent 2020 CU1Tent 2020 Total 

Other Intragovemmental Liabilities: 

Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable $ $ 555,293 555,293

Other Post Employment Benefits Due and Payable 3,500 3,500 

Unfunded FECA Liability 

Custodial Liability 159,207 193,604 352,811 

Deferred Rent 6,657,942 596,233 7,254,175 

Total Other futragovemmental Liabilities: $ 6,817,149 $ 1,348,630 $ 8,165,779 

Other Non-Federal Liabilities 

Accrued Funded Payroll and Leave 1,884,885 1,884,885 

Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable 84,731 84,731 

Unfunded Leave 3,546,642 3,546,642 

Liability for Advances and Prepayments 70,155 70,155 

Total Other Non-Federal Laibilities $ $ 5,586,413 $ 5,586,413 

Total Other Liabilities $ 6,817,149 $ 6,935,043 $ 13,752,192 

2019 Non-CU1Tent 2019 CU1Tent 2019 Total 

Other futragovenunental Liabilities: 

Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable $ $ 413,442 $ 413,442 

Other Post Employment Benefits Due and Payable 3,500 3,500 

Unfunded FECA Liability 61 61

Custodial Liability 27,030 556,130 583,160 

Deferred Rent 7,254,175 596,234 7,850,409 

Total Other futragovemmental Liabilities: $ 7,281,205 $ 1,569,367 $ 8,850,572 

Other Non-Federal Liabilities 

Accrued Funded Payroll and Leave 1,505,528 1,505,528 

Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable 65,896 65,896 

Unfunded Leave 3,112,591 3,112,591 

Liability for Advances and Prepayments 56158 56158 

Total Other Non-Federal Laibilities $ $ 4,740,173 $ 4,740,173 

Total Other Liabilities $ 7,281,205 $ 6,309,540 $ 13,590,745 
Note 8 Commitments and Contingencies 

As of September 30, 2020, in the opinion of FEC management and legal counsel, the FEC was not 

party to any legal action which results in a probable, measurable future outflow of resources that 

requires recognition in the financial statements. However, the FEC was party to legal action which 

could result in losses that are at least reasonably possibly. Furthermore, there are cases where 

amounts have not been accrued or disclosed because the amounts of the potential loss cannot be 

estimated or the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is considered remote. 

For comparative purposes, the following table includes the status of Commitments and 

Contingencies as of September 30, 2019. 

Accrued 

Liabilities Lower End Upper End 

As of September 30, 2020 

Legal Contingencies: 

 

 

Probable $ - $ 500 $ 500 

Reasonably Possible $ - $ 34,483 $ 34,483 

 

As of September 30, 2019

Legal Contingencies: 

 

Probable $ - $ - $ -

Reasonably Possible $ - $ 255,401 $ 255,401 

 

Contingent Loss Table 

Estimated Range of Loss 

72 
Note 9 Leases 

The FEC did not have any capital leases as of September 30, 2020 or September 30, 2019. The FEC 

has a non-cancellable operating lease for its office space through November 30, 2032. 

As contained in the FEC’s Occupancy Agreement with the General Services Administration (GSA), 

as amended July 30, 2019, future payments under the operating lease are as follows: 

Future Payments Due for Non-Cancelable 

Operatcy Lease - Building 

2020 

Fiscal Year Lease Payment 

2021 5,161,065 

2022 5,215,071 

2023 5,270,698 

2024 5,327,993 

2025 5,387,007 

2026 5,447,791 

2027 5,510,399 

2028 5,708,203 

2029 5,801,287 

2030 5,869,701 

2031 5,940,166 

2032 6,012,746 

2033 933,755 

Total $ 67,585,882 

As per the terms of the lease agreement, the FEC was granted a total of $8,943,503.52, or 22 months, 

in free rent from the lessor. Per the FEC’s policy, the total free rent will be amortized as deferred 

rent over the life of the lease. 

The table above represents the actual cash outlays for rent payments, as contained in the FEC’s 

Occupancy Agreement with GSA, and does not include the amortized Deferred Rent referenced 

above. 

73 
Note 10 Inter-Entity Costs 

The FEC recognizes certain inter-entity costs for goods and services that are received from other 

Federal entities at no cost or at a cost less than the full cost. Consistent with accounting standards, 

certain costs of the providing entity that are not fully reimbursed are recognized as imputed cost [in 

the Statement of Net Cost], and are offset by imputed revenue [in the Statement of Changes in Net 

Position]. Such imputed costs and revenues relate to employee benefits and claims to be settled by 

the Treasury Judgement Fund. The FEC recognizes as inter-entity costs the amount of accrued 

pension and post-retirement benefit expenses. However, unreimbursed costs of goods and services 

other than those identified above are not included in our financial statements for current 

employees. The assets and liabilities associated with such benefits are the responsibility of the 

administering agency, OPM. For the periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, interentity costs were as follows:

 2020 2019 

Office of Personnel Management $ 2,259,208 $ 2,887,867 

Total Imputed Financing Sources $ 2,259,208 $ 2,887,867 

74 
Note 11 Explanation of Differences between the Statement of Budgetary Resources 

and the Budget of the U.S. Government 

The Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) compares budgetary resources with the status of those 

resources. For the year ended September 30, 2020, budgetary resources were $79,061,462 and net 

outlays were $73,753,039. For the year ended September 30, 2019, budgetary resources were 

$75,551,616 and net outlays were $64,987,148. 

Apportionment Categories of Obligations Incurred 

The FEC receives apportionments of its resources from OMB. Apportionments are for resources that 

can be obligated without restriction, other than to be in compliance with legislation for which the 

resources were made available. 

For the years ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, direct obligations incurred 

amounted to $71,882,696 and $69,100,270, respectively. For the years ended September 30, 2020 

and September 30, 2019, reimbursable obligations incurred amounted to $125,191 and $132,264, 

respectively. 

Comparison to the Budget of the United States Government 

SFFAS No. 7, Accounting for Revenue and Other Financing Sources and Concepts for Reconciling 

Budgetary and Financial Accounting, requires an explanation of material differences between 

budgetary resources available, the status of those resources and outlays as presented in the Statement 

of Budgetary Resources to the related actual balances published in the Budget of the United States 

Government (Budget). The Budget that will include FY 2020 actual budgetary execution information 

is scheduled for publication in February 2021, which will be available through OMB’s website at 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget. Accordingly, information required for such disclosure is 

not available at the time of publication of these financial statements. 

Balances reported in the FY 2019 SBR and the related President’s Budget reflected the following: 

Budgetary

Resources

New Obligations 

& Upward 

Adjustments 

Distributed 

Offsetting 

Receipts 

FY2019 Net Outlays 

Statement of Budgetary Resources $75,551,616 $ 69,100,270 $ $ 64,987,148 

Budget of the U.S. Government 71,000,000 68,000,000 65,000,000 

Difference $ 4,551,616 $ 1,100,270 $ $ (12,852} 

The difference between the Statement of Budgetary Resources and the Budget of the United States 

Government for budgetary resources is primarily due to expired unobligated balances. The 

differences for obligations incurred and net outlays are due to rounding. 

75 
Note 12 Custodial Revenues and Liability 

The FEC uses the accrual basis of accounting for the collections of fines, penalties and miscellaneous 

receipts. The FEC’s ability to collect fines and penalties is based on the responsible parties’ 

willingness and ability to pay: 

Custodial Revenue 2020 2019 

Fines, Penalties, and Other Miscellaneous Revenue $760,511 $ 2,906,662 

Custodial Liability 

Receivable for Fines and Penalties $ 528,126 $ 714,855 

Less: Allowance for Doubtful Accounts $ (175,315) $ (131,695) 

Total Custodial Liability $ 352,810 $ 583,160 

The Custodial Liability account represents the amount of custodial revenue pending transfer to 

Treasury. Accrual adjustments reflected on the Statement of Custodial Activity represent the 

difference between the FEC's opening and closing accounts receivable balances. Accounts receivable 

are the funds owed to the FEC (as a custodian) and ultimately to Treasury. The accrual adjustment 

for civil penalties is composed of a net decrease of approximately $306,000 for FY 2020 and a net 

increase of approximately $119,000 for FY 2019, respectively. The accrual adjustment for 

administrative fines is composed of a net increase of approximately $316,000 in FY 2020 and a net 

decrease of approximately $74,000 in FY 2019, respectively. 

76 
Note 13 Undelivered Orders at the End of the Period 

For Fiscal Year 2020, Unpaid Undelivered orders were $12,420,553, of which $2,388,787 were 

Federal and $ 10,031,766 were non-Federal. As of September 30, 2020, there were no Fiscal Year 

2020 Paid Delivered Orders. 

For Fiscal Year 2019, Unpaid Undelivered Orders were $16,582,115, of which $3,331,937 were 

Federal and $13,250,178 were non-Federal. As of September 30, 2019, there were no Fiscal Year 

2019 Paid Delivered Orders. 

 

77 
Note 14 - Reconciliation of Net Operating Cost to Net Budgetary Outlays 

Budgetary and financial accounting information differ. Budgetary accounting is used for planning 

and control purposes and relates to both the receipt and use of cash, as well as reporting the federal 

deficit. Financial accounting is intended to provide a picture of the government's financial operations 

and financial position so it presents information on an accrual basis. The accrual basis includes 

information about costs arising from the consumption of assets and the incurrence of liabilities. The 

reconciliation of net outlays, presented on a budgetary basis, and the net cost, presented on an accrual 

basis, provides an explanation of the relationship between budgetary and financial accounting 

information. The reconciliation serves not only to identify costs paid for in the past and those that 

will be paid in the future, but also to assure integrity between budgetary and financial accounting. 

The analysis below illustrates this reconciliation by listing the key differences between net cost and 

net outlays. 

78 

Reconciliation of Net Operating Cost and Net Budgetaiy Outlays 

Inttagovernmental With the Public Total FY 2020 

Net Operating Cost (SNC) $ 79,867,804 $ $ 79,867,804 

Components of Net Operating Cost Not Part of the 

Budgetary Outlays 

Property, plant, and equipment depreciation (5,743,370) (5,743,370) 

(Increase)/Decrease in Liabilities not aff'ecting 

Budget Outlays: 

Accounts payable (972,867) 312,561 (660,306) 

Salaries and benefits (141,851) (398,192) (540,043) 

Other liabilities (Unfunded leave, unfunded FECA, 

actuarial FECA) 596,294 (426,491) 169,803 

Other financing sow·ces 

Federal employee retirement benefit costs (2,259,208) (2,259,208) 

Total Components of Net Operating Cost Not Part of the 

Budget Outlays (2,777,631) (6,255,491) (9,033,123) 

Components of the Budget Outlays That Are Not Pait of 

Net Operating Cost 

Acquisition of capital assets 352,760 2,565,598 2,918,358 

Total Components of the Budgetaiy Outlays That Are 

Not Part of Net Operating Cost 352,760 2,565,598 2,918,358 

Other Temporary Timing Diff'erences 

Net Outlays $ 77,442,933 $ (3,689,894) $ 73,753,039 

Related Amounts 011 the Statement of Budgetary 

Resources 

Outlays, net (SBR) 73,753,039 

Agency Outlays, Net (SBR) $ 73,753,039 
SECTION III – Other Information 

79 
Inspector General’s Statement on FEC Management and Performance 

Challenges 

80 

~IEMORANDUM 

TO: The Commission 

FROIH: Christopher Skumer /~ 

SUBJECT: Impector General (IG) Statement Swmmu:izing the Mmagemeut and 

Penomiam:e Challenges Facing lie Federail Election Coumussion (FEC) fof" 

FY 2021 

DATE: November 13, 2020 

Feder~ Election Commi.ssion 

Office ofil!e Inspector G&neral 

Io aooornance iwilh 1he R.epom Consollida · on Act of 2000, 1ihe Fed.em El.ection Commission

(i.e..., the ~'FEC' or ~i.on'') Office oflnspertor General! (OIG) identifies the m 

seriol!IS management and perl'o11mnoe chaie:nges facing flhe Commission and provides a brie

assiessment oflihe Commission's, progress, in addressing those chaillenges.. l By statute this 

rep:,11 · requu:ed to be inch.med in the f'EC's .Ag~cy Fmmcial Report. 

The Goverument Pied'onmnce and R.esnUs Modernization. Acit of20] 0 i~ufrmes major 

management challenges progrnms or mma;gement firw.cl!ions fu:rt are 1.:iuln-ernblte to i.,raste 

fraud, abuse aud mismanagement and urhere a failure to pecfmm welll could sei:-ious:ly affect 

the ability of fhe FEC to achiei;--e .its mission objectiri.:res_ Eacli challenge area is, refated to tihe 

FEC's mimou and reflects confuming \i'lWl.ernbilities and ewecging issues. The me OIG 

idemmed fhe top .management and perloimance challenges. fucing the Commission. as the 

following: 

t Growfh of c.amp.aign spending 

2s Lack of quorum 

3. Coronm.-rirus, (OO\i1D--19' pandemic 

4. Lade offu.lll-tune mpport ro Chieffufo1mation Officer (CIO) and General Counsel 

Positions 

5. Cybet'SeC111£1fy 

f 

1 Toe, llceiJO!tS Conso "dation Ac o.if 000 p!!<Il!WB 3.goi!·DCY c.om.me,111 . ,0:11, tb.e IG's 5latemE!ll15. Ar:cordin,gly, llo"E! 

pmwdedl semot ma:IIJl.gemeat a draft of our state,me;n.t for comm.e:DJ on Oc obe:r 23, 2010_ 

1050 Riirst 5tree N.E Washingto n. IDC 20463 wwwJec.gov/ · g 
81 
82 
83 
84 

Introduction and Approach 

'\\iJiy do l\·e publiil'li this :l.'eport? 

In aocoi-dance 1,,¥:ith the Repoiu Coooouda ·on Act o 2001J, lhe Federal Election Commi!s ·on 

(1.e. the ''"FEC ' or "Cowmission') Office of Inspector Genera] (OIG) identifies: the, most seri.om 

:mru.iagement and perl'onDm1.ce challenges facing tihe Commission .and prov "des ai brief 

assesmie.nt of lie Commission s progr m addressing thooe ohru.lenges. By s,ratute dill, repo11 

is [e<pr.m·ed to be included m -the FEC' s Agency F:irumcial lteport. 

Wihat are :1m.magemeot drnilleuge '! 

The G-01,,:re-mm.ent Perfonrumce and Remlfis fudemi:zation Act of20W identifies majm 

:mrui.agem.ent chall~aes: as. programs m management :functiom 1:tat are Vil.dnerable to waste 

fraud, abuse anfi! mismanagemem and \,;here ai failure ro perlorm welll couJd seriously affec,t the 

ability ofth-e FEC ro acbie· ·e its missfon objectives. Eacb chal!t afre.a is :rrelated to ilie FEC's 

:miss.ion and reflects: co:otinning ,;ulnerabili.ties and emerging i~ The FEC OIG idenffied ·fue 

1op nmnag~ment and pe1fomw.uoe ohaUenges facing th-e Commission as the folloi.¥i:ng: 

••· Gro\\!ilh o:f campaign spending 

•· Lack of quon:un 

••· Comnavims (CO\l]jl)_19) pruidemic 

• Lack offn~-tim.e support to Cbiefinformat:ioo. Offic,er (CIO and General Counsel 

Positions 

1 , C:yber.s:ecllllity 

Bow did TI,e ideotif'.y these ,dt..'11.E-oges':' 

We identified the Commission , major m.magemen:t a.ud pecfunnan.ce olwtD.e.mges by i-ecogoizing 

and aSB.leSs.iru!: ikey the.mes from OIG a!l.i:dits, special reli!iew , hotline compla:i.ul • in ·estigatio:1:1S_ 

and an m.te1ml ruk a.~.sessment, as v.reU as reporll publiffled by e~--temru. m;emgnt( bodies, , l!JdJi M 

the Office of Perso1lllf'l Management (Ofrvf) and die Go ·e:rmneut AcOOJ.llllt.a.biltiity Ofifoe (GAO). 

Additiollilllly we :irev-i.e\<-i;--ed pre ;ious management c:haUenge reports f.o detem1i.ne if those 

challenges t'elllain sigw:fica:nt for tihi.s sub:wimoo.. Fwalil.y, 'live considered publicly ava:ilwle 

inf 01mahon a.ud mtana[ Commissiom records.. As ai res r U, we .i.denrii:tled five !key mana!!elllent 

and perlomwJ.ce challenges, which are de ailed he:rew. 

.\timagement ,and Peifonn{HJce Challe,w.;s .Fa.ci11g the FEC m FY 0. 1 1 
85 

J\.ianagement and Perfo11l.limC:e Challenge: Gro ;th of Campaign Speudmg 

The FEC was abllooed nearlly filly years ago to,provide oversight of federal campaign. 

frnanc.e_ Si:troe thel!I, federal. campaign £1.1:ndraising and .spending !ha -e increased dramaticallly 

partic-u!l.ady after the US_ Supreme Court" s decision in Otizens l htited v_ REC :in 20] O_ Indeed 

total spending on federnl election Clilli!pfilgns has mareared! from · l _6 billion in 1998 to more 

thm ': no billion pmj eoted for 00.0_ 

ss 

S2 

$0 

Election Spending: 1998 - 2020 

2000 200!Z 2004 2006 2ooa 2010 2012 2014 2011i 201s 2020 

Ft§Iln..· Toml expmJdirures P6I" ele:ciitm <=:}ffl' r:<!P{Jrted 1.0 the· FEC . allfil=-. fJW data u: as ,ref Jun;:; 30. 1020 

and'fJIT'de:cial. w EJxor:al 12 - 14 M liGtn. Tli;;i wtals i11 Niisfigun r:qn-e;s,mt aggregaJ ;np;,,1diturn. ~ o./lfil;;n, 

i. cht.wrg ,campa1g1rs. pm1Jl c-r:mimitt=. m.-d political actimr ,oommittfl.f!Ji (PAO:). ,ob1ail1edfn:1m FEC filiJig:;_ 

The tota] number of b:ansaclio:1.1S swhject to FEC lieg:nl:a.tioo. and o ·efii:i:ghl: ha -e also dramatically 

.rn.0rea£led, especialliy in rec.en!( years_ Transactiom: iudoo.e mnndaimy :filings and OOl!l.Sil-:,1 o financia] 

repo1t.s filed i.vifui the FEC a.nd .w.du.de SlJ.W:m.MY financial :infOllllB.tioo. and itemized details of receipts 

(wdudmg comribmio; ). ~bu:rsements (indiu:dmg expendimre ) and other financial. aclivity_ 

Indeed, as detailed :fumiher in the figure below: 

•· Between. ]9~1} and 2002, ilie: toral nmnber of transactioll! ~ubj ect to FEC regulation and 

overnight increased from approx.ilmte:ly 60 000 to nearl_- time Dlli!lion.. 

• In 20] 8, 11he FEC , ed 11:a.eadly 2 70 milllion tnm~actio:ns_ 

• That number is projected to exceed 600 million m 2010_ 
86 
87 

Despite dran:iatic w.creares .m C-.mJJ!ai.gn expenditmie and the mwdie:r o:f tni.n.sactio.os subject 

to FE.C regu]ation and 01.:rerni.glir.t, the Gommissi.o:n's. budget has remained largely static. Since 

2008, the FEC s. lmdget bas w.creased b).• an 3\·,e:rn,ge of cooy 0.66' o per ye.ar. Those mcreas.ies 

have not kept up llliiili i:nflaticm, 1.\fhiclt has. averaged approximately 1 .frl ·, per year since 2008. 

FEC Annual Appropriati,ons: 2008 - 2020 

s100 

$90 

$80 

$70 ~ 

- - - - - - - - ~ 

$60 - - - ·1 liens $5l0 

$40 

$30 

$20 

$10 

$0 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2.012 2.011 :WU, 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 202.0 

In additicm, the natw:e of federal! c-~ai.gps illas e ,.mllved in i:-eaeut yean:. Ornine fundraisiug~ 

the influence of dark. money, and potential foreign e[edom] in:fill!Je:llCe will continue to place 

fw1her strain on the FE.G s ability to pi-o ride m.rer ight o:f federn] c-arnpaigns. As · inch, absent 

additional. i:-esomces, the FEC faces. challenge in · l'COe$Sfullly regulating campaign fim.nce v.iith 

Ji.ts cl!lffe.D1 :fi.m.dmg, i.vmch has tially remained llhe same O'i,'ef llhe past llbrirteen yeacs or more. 

l'lfanagement and Perfonrumoe ChaJlenge: Lack of Quorum 

A signillcant rnana,gememt and :(>e!l:"fonmmce clmil11euge for IT 20!1:1 resi.des. with.1ihe July 

020 ami •l!U!lOement of the :resi.gnafii.on o:fCommis,.siouer Camune Bnme:r, rem"fffl.g tihe FE 

¥.riJthout a fum-mem.bel'" quonun. The Conunissi.on · :1requil"ed to be oomposed o:f · -

commissioner , appointed. by the Pres:idemt i.lfith. :110 more than three membecs affiliated v.rilth the 

Sllllie poli.fii.rcal piniy.1 Furthermore, 5,2 1 .S.C. § 30106 tequii:-es lhe affirmative 'i,'Ote of fum 

meumeIS, to oot Olli. ce:rtaim matte-1' . The. FEC lacked. ai quomm fur a]l but 29 daiys i.u. FY 2020. 

Swee i.ts incept.ion, the FEC has Lacked a quorum on three occasions: ai • --moo.th period in 2008, 

fi:o.w September 2019 to 1 · ·faiy 2020, and :tio.w. Jl!lily 4, 2020 to the p!'e5e:nt. 

The lack. of a qnonWJL:prel,'ellfs, the Comwis-.s: ·,m from among othel'" thwg.s liS11.J.mg decisions 

on pewhmg eofurcement actio.os . opem.ng im.-restigal:ions,. and i.ssuimg ruhiro:ry qpinioos.. This: 

concem also pro:llW!)e,ntly directily and .mdi:rectly impacts agency progract15 and procedures. 

1 See, 5_ U S.C. , 30 86 . 

• 'i.ftmagenumt ,and.Perf011rum'Ce C"Jial.lem!'es Facit.ig tile FEC in F¥ fJ 1 
88 

Commi~_sfou. Directive 1 O. Sectiolll. L se ~ forth ilie rules of pi-ocechtre to be folloi.ved i.vheo. the 

Comw:iiwolll. : fewer uh.an four sitwig m.em001; aud mc]udes ai list of matters. on v.rhich the 

~MOlll.may sil act These .UJC-llude nmices offillmg dates non-filer no - es. debt ... tUement 

p,fans:, administrafu-re teuninatioo.s and appe~ l!llldei- the Freedom. ofinfunnatio.n and Pri¥acy 

Act;;_ 

While the .Federal .Electioti Cci-mpaign Acl of 19 1 as amemied (.FECA), require an. 

affu':l!lla1:ive vote by four COl!ll1.lWEion-ers. to make decision in many areas, i.ncluding regul)ations, 

amiror,• opinions :mdit matl:en: and en::fufc.e:m.ent, the C.omm:ii -om remam open fo.r bmrn.ess_ 

Staff commues to fi:i:rtiher the ag,en:cy ' s vital mmiorn of a~te:rmg ·the nati.,o:n s campaign 

finance l::11.vsa 

The OIG underntands that ffw llllillll:gement ch.a!lleoge is beyond fihe co:mtro] of the 

Comw:imolll; bl!ll we i.voold be remiss ifwe fail to acl:nov.r1edge the lade of a qootl!llll is, an 

on-going significant managemeut challenge .. 

Management and Perl'omrmce Challenge: COVID-19 Pandemic 

The o:ogomg CO\i'JD-19 pandemic poses. many iWaDagemeJ!lt and peafomiam:e cllll!111enge to 

the Commission. Most notably, - has fo:rced ilie FEC, and :mMJ.Y other agencies, to QPerafe iu a 

remote statiris since I larch 020_ 

Fortmia:te]y, much of the Co:tmnissiolll.'· bus:inecl!S, is being accowphshed:r;;emotely_ One 

a -ti.ca] mission area the pande,m.ic. has. affected relates to the tbmission and acceptance of 

campaign fi:nance cowpfai:nts.. B:t ilav;r, all comp,fai:i:rts m1m be made in ~-rifu:ng and mnist pro, -jde 

the full name md addre of the person. filing ilie oompW!lit • Complaint;; must be signed_ sv.•01u, 

and notarized. meruwg: hat · he notaiys ce11mcate mmt state 1ha1 fhe comp,faint w, "signed and 

swom ro before me" or m1~t .i.nciicate th.at d:re oompiamant affitmed the compfaint "under penal.ty 

of pearjmy_" Cmu!nfl. •, ilie FEC · proc~ng mail on an .w.t:eanittent basis. until it :i,esl!lmes 

normal mail operations and as ai re~itt, the Com.mission has. ~ed that anyone i.1rho wime ro 

file a com.plaint v.<itb. Office ofGeuern! C nnsel (()(](,J Enforcement, do so by mail and send au 

electrolllic C-QP)' of the complaint rm email.. lu addition,, the Commission bas encom:aged ilie llJSe 

of electronic sigwrtnres: aud notarizations. where permitted by state law_ 3 

Additionally due to the :wtmnrittem procefflllg of nmil, the FEC OIG has. expetienced defa:y: 

m. re$p0.lldmg to botiline compiaim del!ivered 'iiia nmil.. As such, we ll3.1ile posted m!lllo1mce:m.enm 

to om webpage emai], and hotline phone re,c,oi-dmg that strongly encourages. compfainan to file 

a] inqmries an · or oompfain fu:rough the newly:...established FEC OIG Hotline Port.al. 

Mami.gem.ent was. forced ro :r;;e.act to ilie COVID-l9 pandemic and as ai re.ult e tablished a 

COVID llllillllgem.ent fe4Illl to address and act on pandemic-refate .. conoet _ A few of those 

actiom incill!Jde but are not limited to: 

2 Se:e 52 U.S,C 30 09,(a)( 

.l Blect:roniic:illy su_~ copies ,of complamts , otherwise appear to be in o are , · . [e(lei.-,.-ed on fh.-e ,.:hfe 

the copy 'l\126 .eclmlllically i:ecei.ud by staff. Comp · ts ilmaf are filed o:nly by mail niill.be ,deemed. i:ecei.,·-ed l\mem. -~ recei.1,-ed by OGC sb:ff, subject to mail prooessing delays. 

l,.frmtWe.rm.mt and Peeform1mce Ctm.ll:.mges Facttig the FEC iri FY {) 1 j 

l 
89 

,., Estabfubing: flexible wook sichednles and i.vai\img core wor:kmg: hom requirements. 

,. , Pw:cham.g ruid .u:uplemenfuig ideo colllllllWieatio:n tioo 

,., Pf"a,.:riding video c.omerenciog f!rail.mgs: ruid te11ei.vod:: secm:i.ty best practice tips. 

,., Comnnmrie.atmg: 81 weekl~, cornpi!lation of gm.dance and in:fumlation to assist FE , mfl' 

while fihe agency is: l!lllder mandiato:r.y telelvo1k 

,., Estabfurung: 81 Phare 1 ~openiog quick reference guide 

,. , Estabhihwg: lPhase I re-ope,:Ll!W.g tt-ai.nwg: for- iFlEC staff members 11vmch .in.cm.des a selfcheck for- COVID form, FEC OOl!Ltact t1'3cmg: log, and p:rotec -\re persoml ,equipmem 

foe staff membe,rs. entering the office durmg Phase I 

,., lvfmdafuig face masks in commom areas, hmiti:mg the number- o peQpie in the 

building, and esrabl!ishing ellllfillced cleanmg: protocols 

,. , h_mmg: an ~iacuation 01'd.er on March 24, 1020 and cenenrmg: that order- on September 

18 20 0 to reduce c.oocems: regardingpotentiail COVII)-19 ,exposure pur:m:mt to, 

OP!Vfs regu.latioms. at 5 _F.R Part 550, Stib,p.ut D 

,. , T rac~ t,.;.,....,, .• 11._ operm:mg . - uit:: flus, of approxu:ool:ely ~5, public. school di..sm.c in DC, 

~ · !lalil.d and \ ir-gima 

In add.ition, the Commission lal!Ul.dred a ~opening S'l!UVe)f o, sbff members in .fully 2020 w 

effort.s to llSe employee feedl:mck in ooajunotion with g:o -emment regplatio:ns to fomnt::ate a plan 

fur a phased ~ approach.. The :sm.vey reoeived a 900:o response rnte w which a majority 

of respondemt.s reported that they v;rould 1ilie: to continue to rema.i:m in a maximum. telev.i-ork mte 

due to COV]D-19 COlil.oern.s and drat lhey can su.ccessfullycODJPlete wo1-ktasks, from home 

;foreo :,e,r half of the :1Pe£POlildeuts reported conoems r,egardmg exposur:e to 00 · ID-191 with the 

use of publ\i.c 1:Imspo1tatio:m. 

Out of short-tean necessity the Commission has implemented ag,ency:...wide prooedu:res w 

reaction to the OOVII)-19 pandemic_ \\ e .i.demify this: as. a confuwed. chaiUenge fucwg the 

~.sion w. FY 202 l doe to the -olatility of ffle situation and ,em.courage the agency to be 

proacti'li e m .. ~t.s respo:11S'e sb"ategy in 'Fi 2021 to mitigate potemt:ial impacit.s tio mission 

reqwremem .. 

lanagement and Perfonnance C'hanenge: Lack of Fml.-1 mie Chief 

ln:furmation Officer (CIO) and Genera] Conosel Positions 

On:rrently, lhe semor-!l.eade.r:Wp role- of the Staff Director and CIO are occupied byfue same 

indi imJail and have b een sinoe A~m 01 l Info:onatioo reclw.ology is ,ffi?er-e,\,oh,'ing, which 

affects alll gm:remment agenci . amd without a folly dedicated CIO to foous: om technological 

isS'l.i;es to ensw:e res01.11rc are propedy allocated and adequate processe- are im place fur-the 

protection and safeguards. of the agency fue agency will remain at risk. 

On .April l 2019, the ommittee on.House Admim:&tration of the U_S_ HOl!ISe of 

Representatives pored a nl!lll:lbef" of questions to the FE. Oomwissioo.er· about agency 

.. 'idtmag-mm.mt mlil Peef01mt111'Ce Challenges Faa11g the FEC in FY rJ 1 6 
90 

operations, indoo.i:ng if tire Com:tni§iou agreed with oomoe.r:m 1hat the CIO and Smff Diceotor 

should. have a fm]_fime dedicated persoo. for each positiotl!. The COl!llllli iSiou-ers. agreed 1wifh. fihis 

ooncem and added fhat fhe sai1ary l!imit placed on the: Stcafl' Director 1rry tire FEc_A_ is capped. at 

Le rel fV of11he Executive Schedme, Thris sta.tl!Jtmy reqnire.m.entpro i des that the Sraff Director 

mpen.i-ise . peoom:i.el at the GS-15 mid. SeJJ!ior Le ·esl pay sc,ale:. whom often ha ·e higher m .;u:i 

thatl!. tbe Staff Direct.or. Once l:he C~ou promoted the C'.1O to the Sta:ff Directm the 

~ · ou .tllowed lwn to com:inue tio sen:re: as. the CIO ruwJ be compensated at that lfil-"el rather 

thm. ta1re a pay cl!l.l. 

Similarly, the Deputy Genernll Col!ll!ISel for .Law is. conCUH"eutty serving as the Acting: Genefa] 

Co1!mSel and has: been doing so · ·: oe: September 2016. 'This .!bas pote.ntiail to put 'tihe agency at 

ri* and inhibit the ag.enc.y to effectively and effi.ciernM.y meet :iit.s: :mrissioo. :requnemeuts as robust 

intemal. diafogJile and di :ersil:y of qpllllioo. al'e essential to ensuri:mg fihe agency oo:msidern 

competing: le§a] theories and cou:rses. of actiotl!. 

The Colllllllittee: om House Admi:w...matio:n of the U.S .. Hol!lSe of Represeataitii;,res sw11lady 

mqu.i:fed to why the position of 1Genem Counse] bad not been pe.r:mme.ntJly filled. In response 

the G.lmmiss.io:n identified 11hait flhe FE A ~l!W'eS-the GenernJI o1!11!1Sel to be paid at Level of 

the Executive Schedlllll.e amd fhat 11his wnitatioo. can make diffiCl!lllt to attract and :retain good 

talent. Si:inila:r to the Staff DiJrectm positio:ll!, fhe Gemera1 Gou.me] Sl!lpeI'l,-'ises. penro:m1el at the 

GS-15, and Sewor Level pay · •ail.es:., ll\ihiclit oftelll pnnli.de higher sa]aries film. level · of the 

&ecuti. ·e Schedu1e .. 

, :fanagement previously :reported that l:he Commi.fflou adopted. legislative: :Feoommendations: 

in. 2018, 2(H 01 16, 20] 5, OU, 20 B and 2011 that nrged CongirecSS, to remo,-i;,re the sblil.1fimy 

references to 11he Executive SchemJile in FECA wil:h respect to the FEC Staff Director and 

Gene:ra] mmsel Positions:. The removru o:f tl!iat refe:Fence v.'Ould ellSllwe: the mro positioo.s be 

compen%Ited under rue same scliedule as. the Commission' o her mor managers. 

Filling the CIO and General CoWJ.sS.e! P'ositioms. i.,ri11h fu]l ... time .m.cumbents wol!lld he.Up •~me 

the FEC is. effeotive] , amd efficiently $l!IJ.lJJortimg · ts m.:rerall mission o:bject4.'ii Assi:gning actmg 

personnel tio ·mro ,ewent.ial leader ," positions oo. a loog-.term. basis is. not au effici.emt soll!Jticm .. 

om-reirsely due to ·the lack of a qu01i1.IDJ,, the o.m:miSfflMJ.er have: opted not to apprmre ihe 

selecti.0111 of GS-15 and Semor Le :e;l positioos. Basied. om ilie fore-gowg and upotl! rerumra] of a 

quorum, we enoou:rage the agency to liw:e or appoi:mt someone to cany out the agency CIO a:md 

Gene:ra] CoWISel mitie om a fiiiil]..time bas· .. 

la:nagement and Pecfimnan.ce Clwlenge: C.'ybersecnrity 

Protecti:mg data syst:ems and :11ew.'Orb fromi threats. re:llilfilllS. a oop challenge. The FEC was 

,estabmhed tio protect tire integrity of federal campaign firnmce: by pm r:idimg fct~ and 

,enforcmg and admi:nig~T federal campaign fmamce: laws. fu doing so l:he FE.C disdo 

campaign finance data to ~ pnhlic and a result , eu:coumecs ]arg,e ,mlwnes of webpage b"a!ffi.c 

frmu , ltal\:,eholde:r and members. of the: public, Ia e:ffi:ms to rureanili:Ire tran£parency i:mitiati ·es. 

and impro ·e lmsw:ess pmcesse ·the Commissiom is more technology reliam today: as. is society; 

as ~rob., .~t is :imperati'ire that the Cm.nmissi.o:n contimre to prioritize cybersect , · ty. 

7 
Cvhe,rsecmity .,. _. enc:nnlnru,se .....-...,...- att..n"".'t 1,1,~ • from rnrnit:mls and ait1rermes to obtam sensiti: ·e 

mfo1m.moo fudred to gm.re.mment :etv;rodcs. persona] id.entifiable infmma.tion, intel!l.ectu.al 

property mid other sensiti ·e data. C';rber fbreats. may arise from phisbmg, rfil1Sl0:llllware or otheir 

mruware al:IBCJ and cm infil1irate any lei.rel v;ritih:im an orgaoiz.atioll. 

S"i re Augnst 2019, the Comn:il.UlSioo etJLgaged in. 1ihree joint efforts. i.vith. the Department of 

Hom.eland Secmify (DBS) to improve it 01,,~ security posmre: 

:1 . The Commission encountered an isi111.ie where am employee was. tem:wlated for 

~ 

dmvm.oading pre,:tiu.b.itive so:fuva:re on theu- FEC-· ii.red laptop. This incident prompted FE.C 

to partner with he DRS C'ybersecmi1:y mid To/framiti;cmre Security Agency (CISA) 

Bunt amd h.ci.dent Response Team (HIR.I) in August 2019, oo perfOWl an asressment ~o 

deteomne if an in.tmsi.Ol!I. occm:red ~"'ithm. the FEC'· nehvorlc environment 

_ In Jamwy 010, at ilhe request o:fthe OIG, l:he CISA BIRT pe,ifoaned a Risk and 

· · yulnerabil!iity Asse ment (RVA) of t,he FEC network which .mdu.ded a peuetrn.tio:n test and 

phisbing assessment. 

3. In May 2010, CISA perfi::mued a Secmity .~ssmen"I: R.e riew (SAR) to assist with 

identifywg additiona] g.w ruts. 

As 31 resutt of fhe furego.mrg review t,he OHS te.ams identified potenfria] mk: and pravided 

Fee.omw.endatio ro :imp1me flhe FEC' 01,,'"eCaill cmitypostw:e. Additio:nallly in effm1s to he]p 

saregirw-d the Co1llllll.SsiOl!I. s. netv;rork and instill a mlm:re of c.ybe.rnecwity, all taff, i:nduding 

con:tm.di01i"S, a:Fe :r;eqwred to Sl!JCCffi,.mdly c,owplete reoun:wg i:nfurmati.on security trainwg. 

It is eS\S.len:tial. flhai flhe Commission comtitJ,111e to mawtam the :integrity and 31\taifubility of its. 

i1l!fo1:m.mom as. i"I: fook: to modernize its. sys•tems, whi.ch i:nc.l.nde !lllO'li'lllg towards. a dcm:d. 

en: ll'iO:llme'ffl. lli.1:arge part the agency has, been reactir.re to c;iberse01.w.~ty concerns amd we 

,enc.ow:a~ fh-e Co1llllll.Ss.iOJ!l to, be proac: · ·e in esbblli.sh.ing a c;ibe.rsecwty :fumrewoi:k ruid. 

sf,rengtihm :inte.n:ml controb to miti§a.te e:Ktemail threats from enter.mg the FEC' s ne ;vod:. 

Condusion 

Th-e OIG presenu: 1hese dJ:alllemges as pre'ii'ious and evoh,ing .i.ssues facing th-e FEC in Ff 

2021. The challellg.es. sen.re as impeodmg bwrie:t" to promote efficiency amd effectivene in 1lhe 

:mmage.ment o:fFE .·· oper.ations and :Procedmes: .. The OIG remaims. dedicated ro indepeuden:t 

or.rersight ·to en-fme ao001U1"1:ab.ilify afthe :mission ohh-e FEC. 

FY 2020 Management Challenges not Included in FY 20-1 Report 

•Mi: uagement Challenge: Addl'ess outstanding OIG audit !1'1eeommeudations 

The O G and FEC naive m:rade IFemendbl!IS progress .m. re ! ·mg: 9 !Iecommendations: :smoe 

.A:ugumst: 20 ]8. The OIG acbt.owledges that fi"O!llll ovember 2018 to August 2019, the FEC OIG 

l.ac~d an Tospectoir Gen.em:] and Dqmfy Inspector Genera] and, as 31 rewt ooul:d not appro re 

actions: l<eque fed oo close ol!Jtstandwg reoomw.mdlaJtions . 

• \frmag:ement ,anii Peiformr111ce Challemres Fa.ci1rg the FEC in FY {) 1 
Ot.urentlly there are 21 oumt.m.dmg: al!Jdit recoimneudations that date bad:: to 20 no. Tue agency 

shouild. contimue to de'l.:rote attention to address he ou~ronding :r;ecommen.da:ti:ions in e_:ffom. to 

,e.u.mre adeqoote intemal conttols are identified, docmneuted, and implemented. The OIG 1.vill 

OOJ!ll:mue to pro.mote ongoing and recm:ring discussions. with. m,,·UJ:agemeut to help foci attelili ioo. 

to ciurem prooegres and recommeud specific actions. to dos:e om :fen:minring recomrn.enda:tio . 

:l:faoagement Challenge: Adm1e~ 1·~ult.s ft'lllm the annual FE\,·s aod _016 Root Causes ,of 

I ..01.11 Employee Muale Stud~~ 

In the OP1 ·· 1 Hm:nau Capitail Managemeut Evai.11:a.ticm report of 'the FEC dated August 13 019, 

OP I identified that EEC lacks a fmmal proc for l!JSing: FEVS :remUs to .wfo1m manag.ement 

decisions and focui impro1.:renie111t effo11s. Tue OIG belie · that i:mp!.em.enting a fmma] process 

·t.o a.ddre5s.s employee ooncems rould firllil:hef' benefit the agency and increase employee morale .. 

The agency continues to make strides in i:mpro.rmg ag~ morale through the .impro1- e.ments. in 

llllllKlgetnellt trawing., pmfi · ollfil de'M elopm-emt and m.cre4l.Sed COD)(J1)111Ji ~o .. ·· 1a:nagement 

shouild. com:imue to de,,,:re_lqp and impiernen:t actiom p:lans. to address ·. he oonoems. 

The Comm.ission ated that it planned to fa.unch an outreach. prog:raJ!DL to le.run. from staff how 

~t to ooil!d on the Sl!JCCelsjlfS, reported in die 019 FE'VS and how to add:Fess. those eJ!Il.ployee 

.issues that oontinne to r-eqnire :ma:nagem-emt's focused attention .. The OIG acmmvledges fha.t this 

,effort v.d take time md we plan. to r-e · · it tlw: cone em. at ai later date~ 

.'1Janagement .rmtlPerformonce Challerwes Faring the FEC iri Fi' iO 1 9 
93 
 

Management’s Response to the Office of Inspector General’s Statement on the 

Federal Election Commission’s Management and Performance Challenges 16 

November 13, 2020 

In its Statement on the FEC’s Management and Performance Challenges (“Statement”), the Office 

of the Inspector General (“OIG”) identified five overarching management and performance 

challenges for inclusion in the FEC’s Agency Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2020. 

Management’s response to the OIG statement is below. 

Challenge 1: Growth of Campaign Spending 

As illustrated in the OIG’s description of this management challenge, increases in the amount of 

money raised and spent in federal elections, and changes in the way political committees raise and 

report contributions, have resulted in explosive growth in the number of campaign finance 

transactions reported to the FEC each election cycle. Each of these transactions represents a data 

element that must be received by the FEC, added to our database and disclosed and made 

searchable on the FEC website and via the FEC campaign finance API. 

In large part in response to projected increases in campaign finance activity, in FY 2015 the FEC 

proactively launched a comprehensive, multi-year IT Modernization project. Since this project was 

launched, the Commission has requested and received as part of its annual budget funds to support 

this crucial effort. As part of the IT Modernization project, the FEC redesigned its website and 

migrated both the website and the campaign finance database that supports it to a cloud 

environment. In addition to providing faster and easier access to campaign finance data hosted in 

the cloud, this migration allowed the agency to shut down one of its physical data centers during 

FY 2018, realizing attendant costs associated with maintaining that data center. During FY 2020, 

the FEC made additional database enhancements to improve database performance and control 

costs of hosting and maintaining the database. 

To continue to mitigate an anticipated steep rise in future cost from maintaining physical data 

centers, the FEC is pursuing a modernization plan which requires investment now and over the 

next several years to continue cloud migration and realize improvements in its IT processes. 

During FY 2020, the FEC conducted a study to determine how best to migrate other appropriate 

systems and databases to the cloud, allowing the agency to realize greater efficiency and 

performance in future years. The FEC will continue to implement the recommendations of this 

study during FY 2022 with the goal of reducing costs in future years while maintaining high levels 

of service to the public. 

In addition, the FEC is currently working to upgrade the agency’s eFiling platform. In order to 

reduce the financial burden of compliance for committees and other individuals and groups who 

must file with the FEC under the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), the FEC provides 

access to free filing software. In FY 2017, the Commission published a study of its current eFiling 

16 Management consists of the agency’s senior managers, including the Staff Director, General Counsel and Chief Financial 

Officer. 

94 
 

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.17 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 FEC had expected to begin the implementation phase of this 

project during FY 2021. However, COVID-19 related delays in onboarding new staff and 

contractors subsequently contributed to delays in the FEC’s efforts to complete the development 

phase of the eFiling platform during FY 2020. As a result, the FEC expects to begin partial 

implementation of the new eFiling system during FY 2021. 

Campaign finance reports filed on paper remain the most costly filings for the FEC because they 

must be manually received and processed by FEC staff. The Commission has also taken steps to 

reduce this burden on the agency. Most notably, in 2000 the Commission began requesting through 

Legislative Recommendations that the Act be amended to make the FEC the point of entry for 

Senate filings. This amendment, which became law in September 2018, had the effect of subjecting 

Senate filers to the FEC’s mandatory electronic filing rules, which require committees to file 

electronically if they receive contributions or make expenditures in excess of $50,000 in a calendar 

year or expect to do so. In 2018, the Commission recommended legislative changes to require 

reports of electioneering communications to be filed electronically with the Commission, rather 

than on paper and to increase and index for inflation certain registration and reporting thresholds. 

If enacted, each of these recommendations would have an effect of further reducing the number of 

paper filings received by the FEC.18 

Challenge 2: Lack of a quorum 

The Commission was without a quorum of four Commissioners for approximately 11 months 

during FY 2020, and began FY 2021 without a quorum.19 However, the President has nominated 

Allen Dickerson, Shana M. Broussard and Sean J. Cooksey to become FEC Commissioners, and 

those nominations are currently pending before the Senate. 

Management agrees that the present lack of a quorum presents challenges for agency staff and 

managers. In the agency’s Enterprise Risk Profile, management has listed the potential lack of 

quorum as a very high risk since FY 2018. 

While the Act requires an affirmative vote by four Commissioners to make decisions in many 

areas, including regulations, advisory opinions, audit matters and enforcement, the Commission 

remains open for business. Staff continues to further the agency’s vital mission of administering 

the nation’s campaign finance laws. 

17 Available at https://fec.gov/about/reports-about-fec/agency-operations/e-filing-study-2016/. 18 The Commission lacked the necessary quorum of Commissioners to approve Legislative Recommendations in 2019. 

19 The FEC began FY 2020 without a quorum. A quorum was restored on June 5, 2020, when Commissioner James E. “Trey” 

Trainor, III, was sworn in. The FEC again began working without a quorum on July 3, 2020, with the departure of Commissioner 

Caroline C. Hunter. 

95 
The requirements of the Act and Commission regulations remain in effect, and political 

committees and other filers must continue to disclose their campaign finance activity to the 

Commission on the regular schedule. FEC staff remains ready to help committees and the public 

understand and comply with the law, process and review committee reports including issuing 

Requests for Additional Information, and provide public access to campaign finance data. While 

the Commission cannot take action on many legal matters, staff continues to litigate ongoing court 

cases, process new enforcement complaints and responses, conduct audits that were previously 

authorized by the Commission, and investigate matters previously authorized by the Commission. 

Commission Directive 10, Section L sets forth the rules of procedure to be followed when the 

Commission has fewer than four sitting members and includes a list of matters on which the 

Commission may still act. These include notices of filing dates, non-filer notices, debt settlement 

plans, administrative terminations, and appeals under the Freedom of Information and Privacy 

Acts. The Commission intends to comply with the statutory requirement set forth at 52 USC 

§30106(d) that the Commission meet at least once each month. 

During the brief period the Commission had a quorum in FY2020, the Commission closed 33 

MURs, 39 ADR matters, and 206 Admin Fine matters, totaling $842,413 in administrative fines 

and penalties assessed. Management continues to prioritize matters so that the Commission can 

quickly act on pending matters upon the resumption of quorum and is prepared for the restoration 

of a quorum at any time. 

Challenge 3: COVID-19 Pandemic 

As noted, Senior Management moved swiftly and efficiently to implement policies and workplace 

flexibilities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the official declaration of a pandemic, 

Senior Management met and held informational sessions with staff to strongly encourage 

employees to telework. Immediately, a management team was assembled to stay up-to-date on 

changing circumstances and make recommendations to the Commission. With the strong backing 

of Chair Hunter, Vice Chair Walther, and Commissioner Weintraub, the COVID-19 management 

team quickly moved to implement workplace flexibilities, including enhanced telework, maxi-flex 

hours and administrative leave for employees with childcare and elder care responsibilities. The 

COVID-19 management team holds weekly briefings with the Commission to keep them abreast 

of the situation and ensure they are aware of any changes to the building operating status and 

impacts to our employees. Management’s number one priority continues to be the safety of all 

FEC staff. The COVID-19 management team also began a weekly update email that is sent every 

Friday to alert staff to upcoming events, new guidance and general reminders. The weekly update 

has been well received by staff and managers. 

Management continues to closely monitor the situation and is pleased to report that nearly all FEC 

functions have been seamlessly transitioned to the telework environment and that agency 

performance goals are continuing to be met. Senior Management and the Commission have been 

holding virtual meet and greet sessions for new FEC staff and also held an all employee town hall 

in September. Senior Leaders are regularly holding division meetings to check on staff and hear 

any concerns they may raise. 

96 
 

 

The Administrative Services Division has been procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) for 

staff going in to the building as part of Phase I operations. ASD has also installed signage regarding 

social distancing and shared space guidelines throughout the building in preparation of the return 

of FEC staff in the future. ASD continues to communicate with building management about the 

status of FEC operations. 

Members of the COVID-19 management team have been participating in government-wide groups 

including: OMB small agency group, OPM CHCO/HR Director group, General Counsel 

Exchange, and the CIO/CISO council. 

Challenge 4: Lack of full-time Chief Information Officer (CIO) and General Counsel Positions 

Management fully supports the Commission’s ongoing efforts to fill vacant leadership positions 

and to ensure senior leadership roles are filled by separate individuals. The Commission 

specifically addressed this issue in response to questions posed by the Committee on House 

Administration. In its May 1, 2019, response, the Commission stated: 

All of the Commissioners agree that the Commission should have separate individuals 

filling the senior leadership roles of Staff Director and CIO. As is true of the General 

Counsel position, the salary limit placed on the Staff Director by the FECA (Level IV of 

the Executive Schedule) means that the Staff Director supervises personnel whose 

positions, on the GS-15 and Senior Level pay scales, often provide higher salaries than the 

statutory salary for the Staff Director. The Commission has long recommended that 

Congress de-link the Staff Director’s salary from the Executive Schedule. 

When the Commission promoted our CIO to Staff Director, we allowed him to continue to 

serve as CIO and be compensated at that level rather than absorb a substantial pay cut in 

order to accept the promotion. This has allowed the Commission to maintain consistency 

in its most senior staff leadership.20 

Because of the challenges in maintaining consistent senior leadership, the Commission 

unanimously adopted a Legislative Recommendation in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 

2011 that urges Congress to address this situation. Specifically, the Commission recommends that 

Congress remove the statutory bar on the FEC’s participation in the Senior Executive Service 

(SES) Program and remove the statutory references to the Executive Schedule in FECA with 

respect to the General Counsel and Staff Director, so that those two positions would be 

compensated under the same schedule as the Commission’s other senior managers. This revision 

would remedy the current situation where the Commission’s top managers are compensated at a 

lower rate than many of their direct reports, and would ensure that the Commission can retain 

highly qualified individuals to serve in those positions as well as enable it to remain competitive 

in the marketplace for Federal executives when filing the current vacancy or when further 

vacancies arise. 

20 https://www.fec.gov/about/committee-on-house-administration-april-2019-questions/ 

97 
Due to a lack of quorum and in accordance with Commission Directive 10, the Commission is 

unable to approve the selections of GS-15 and Senior Level positions. During the brief restoration 

of a quorum in FY2020, the Commission approved the permanent selection of the Director of 

Human Resources. The Personnel Committee has approved the following positions to be filled on 

a permanent basis: Assistant General Counsel for Litigation and Assistant General Counsel for 

Enforcement. Upon resumption of quorum, management anticipates the hiring process for these 

and other SL and GS-15 positions to be quickly completed. 

Management continues to work with the Personnel and Finance Committees for approval to post 

and hire qualified individuals for all of the identified positions. As the senior leadership vacancies 

are filled, the Personnel and Finance Committees will closely scrutinize any remaining vacancies. 

In light of the current federal budget conditions, prudent management requires that close 

examination is paid to the potential impact of each vacancy that is approved to hire. The Personnel 

and Finance Committees are committed to analyzing the current FEC workforce and looking ahead 

to fiscal years in order to avoid having to implement a reduction in force. 

Challenge 5: Cybersecurity 

 

The FEC secures the agency’s infrastructure and prevents intrusions through a holistic 

cybersecurity program led by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The FEC’s 

overarching strategy to protect the security and privacy of its systems and network begins with the 

adoption of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Risk Management 

Framework and NIST IT security control “best practices.” NIST Special Publication 800-37 2 – 

Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations,” identifies seven steps 

essential to the successful execution of the risk management framework (RMF): 

• Prepare to execute the RMF from an organization- and a system-level perspective by 

establishing a context and priorities for managing security and privacy risk. 

• Categorize the system and the information processed, stored, and transmitted by the 

system based on an analysis of the impact of loss. 

• Select an initial set of controls for the system and tailor the controls as needed to reduce 

risk to an acceptable level based on an assessment of risk. 

• Implement the controls and describe how the controls are employed within the system 

and its environment of operation. 

• Assess the controls to determine if the controls are implemented correctly, operating as 

intended, and producing the desired outcomes with respect to satisfying the security and 

privacy requirements. 

• Authorize the system or common controls based on a determination that the risk to 

organizational operations and assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation is 

acceptable. 

• Monitor the system and the associated controls on an ongoing basis to include assessing 

control effectiveness, documenting changes to the system and environment of operation, 

conducting risk assessments and impact analyses, and reporting the security and privacy 

posture of the system. 

98 
 

The FEC currently employs this continuous monitoring and ongoing authorization approach to 

assess the risk to systems and networks and allow the authorizing official to determine whether 

that risk is acceptable. Three of the FEC’s major systems follow the formal Authority to Operate 

(ATO) process: the General Support System, the FEC website and the FEC’s eFiling system. 

Robust Security Architecture 

As a result of, and in support of, the RMF, the FEC’s Office of the Chief Information Officer 

(OCIO) continues to take steps to implement a robust security architecture. For example, in 

partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the OCIO has collaborated with FEC 

stakeholders and technical experts to identify, protect, detect, and respond to the impact of known 

and unknown threats, continuously assessing security controls and addressing the remaining 

residual risks. 

As identified in OIG’s description of this management challenge, the FEC has proactively pursued 

three significant joint efforts with DHS over the past two years to better identify and remediate 

emerging threats to the FEC’s systems and networks. In addition, the FEC maintains ongoing 

information security efforts, including our security operation center and the applications for 

continuous diagnostics and mitigation, and implementing security controls to address identified 

cybersecurity gaps. These efforts help to ensure that identified risks are appropriately addressed 

and that its cybersecurity program and security architecture will continue to safeguard the agency’s 

infrastructure, networks, and applications against cyber threats and malicious activities. 

Continuous Monitoring and Mitigation 

OCIO Security has worked with DHS to improve security capability by integrating with the 

Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program. OCIO Security has also introduced the 

use of secure baselining standards, such as the use of DISA STIGS and Benchmarks. System 

hardening and secure baselining practices are being expanded in OCIO teams. The OCIO security 

team has developed a privileged user account agreement and a new password policy to add 

administrative controls to supplement the technical access controls. The addition of the new 

password policy and multi-factor authentication (MFA) has improved the security posture of 

authentication types within the FEC’s information systems. 

Cloud-First Initiative 

The FEC has also adopted a cloud first initiative for security, accessibility and recoverability. 

Hosting systems and data in a cloud environment allows the FEC to utilize our cloud service 

providers’ significant resources that are dedicated to maintaining the highest level of security. In 

addition, by utilizing the cloud service providers’ robust disaster recovery solutions, the FEC 

eliminates the need to maintain physical disaster recovery sites, which are costly to maintain and 

secure. The FEC has already completed the migration of its largest database, the campaign finance 

database, and its website to a cloud environment. The FEC’s new website, launched in May 2017, 

uses FedRAMP Authorized cloud services, which provides a standardized approach to security 

assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. 

99 
Building a Cybersecurity Culture 

At the same time, the FEC is working to build a cybersecurity culture among its employees. The 

first line of defense in maintaining the protection and integrity of the agency’s network is the 

ongoing education of employees about their role in identifying and preventing malicious actors— 

internal or external—from compromising the FEC’s systems and networks. Efforts to build a 

cybersecurity culture include steps to educate staff about FEC IT security policies and to ensure 

staff awareness of potential cybersecurity threats, such as phishing scams. The FEC promotes this 

cybersecurity culture in part through annual, mandatory IT security trainings and through yearround communication and notices to staff from the CISO. This year, the FEC implemented 

additional trainings for all staff to help staff recognize and avoid social engineering attempts. 

Building Capacity in the Information Security Office 

The FEC has also taken steps to build capacity in its Information Security Office. In April 2019, 

the FEC entered into a partnership with the Partnership for Public Service to participate in the 

Cybersecurity Talent Initiative. This selective, cross-sector program, which provides loan 

forgiveness to top bachelors and masters graduates around the United States in exchange for at 

least two-years’ service at a Federal agency, addresses the immediate cybersecurity talent 

deficiency faced by Federal government agencies by attracting service-minded individuals to 

government who might not otherwise have applied. During FY2020, the FEC completed the 

selection process and brought on board an individual for a two-year cybersecurity fellowship. 

Management Challenge: Addressing outstanding OIG audit recommendations 

Management looks forward to continuing to work with the Office of Inspector General to close 

out the remaining audit recommendations. During FY 2020, significant progress was made on 

addressing several recommendations, particularly related to the FEC’s Disaster Recovery Plan and 

Continuity of Operations Plans, Audit of the FEC’s Office of Human Resources, Audit of the 

Privacy Act and Audit of the FEC Telework Program. Management would like to note that some 

of the remaining items are dependent on creating or updating existing FEC policies which will 

require a Commission vote after a quorum has been restored. 

Management looks forward to continued discussions with the OIG on the remaining 

recommendations. Management believes these discussions will help focus attention on current 

processes and allow OIG to identify recommendations that align with current high-risk areas. 

Management Challenge: Address results from the annual FEVS and 2016 Root Causes of Low 

Employee Morale Study 

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

commitment of its staff. During FY 2020, management undertook several initiatives and programs 

to engage staff, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

FY 2020 saw the launch of the FEC Engagement Steering Committee. This group is led by CoCoordinators Rhiannon Magruder and Greg Baker who have been participating in a small-agency 

Engagement Collective through the Partnership for Public Service. The Senior Leaders received 

briefings on employee engagement throughout FY 2020 and have instituted several suggestions, 

including division Zoom calls and the employee town hall. 

100 
In collaboration with the agency’s EEO Office, the Diversity and Inclusion Council was launched 

with the support of all Senior Leaders and the Commission. As part of the Diversity and Inclusion 

Council, employee resource groups will be established. Senior management has also worked to 

ensure that hiring panels are diverse throughout the agency. 

During FY 2020 and the first quarter of FY 2021, management has continued to partner with OPM 

to bring in trainings for both managers and staff. The following courses were provided: Engaging 

& Encouraging Employees, Coaching & Mentoring for Excellence, Dealing with Poor 

Performance & Conduct, Supervisory Fundamentals and Leadership Skills for Non-Supervisors. 

Upcoming courses open to all FEC staff include Resilience in Leadership and Emotional 

Intelligence. Additionally, many staff members have taken part in free virtual webinars and 

courses through OPM and the Employee Assistance Program. 

 

101 
 

Payment Integrity 

The Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) of 2002, as amended by the Improper Payments 

Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA) of 2010, Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery 

Improvement Act (IPERIA) of 2012, and the Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) of 2019 

requires agencies to review all programs and activities they administer and identify those which 

may be susceptible to significant improper payments.21 The FEC does not have any programs or 

activities that are susceptible to significant improper payments and is only required to perform an 

improper payment risk assessment. 

Risk Assessment 

In FY 2020, the FEC performed a systematic review of its program and related activities to identify 

processes which may be susceptible to “significant improper payments.” “Significant improper 

payments” are defined as gross annual improper payments (i.e., the total amount of overpayments 

and underpayments) in the program exceeding (1) both 1.5 percent of program outlays and $10 

million or (2) $100 million. The review was performed for the FEC’s only program area which is 

to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act. For FY 2020, the FEC considered 

risk factors that may significantly increase the risk of improper payments as outlined in OMB 

Memorandum M-18-20, Transmittal of Appendix C to OMB Circular No. A-123, Requirements 

for Payment Integrity Improvement. Based on the systematic review performed, the FEC 

concluded that it is not susceptible to these risk factors and none of its program activities are 

susceptible to significant improper payments at or above the threshold level set by OMB. 

Recapture of Improper Payments Reporting 

The FEC has determined that the risk of improper payments is low; therefore, implementing a 

payment recapture audit program is not applicable to the agency. 

IPIA (as amended by PIIA) Reporting Details Agency Response 

Risk Assessment Reviewed as noted above. 

Statistical Sampling Not Applicable.* 

Corrective Actions Not Applicable.* 

Improper Payment Reporting Not Applicable.* 

Recapture of Improper Payments Reporting Not Applicable.* 

Accountability Not Applicable.* 

Agency information systems and other infrastructure Not Applicable.* 

Barriers Not Applicable.* 

*The FEC does not have programs or activities that are susceptible to significant 

improper payments. 

21 At this time, OMB has not issued PIIA implementation guidance and agencies are advised to continue to follow 

Memorandum M-18-20, Transmittal of Appendix C to OMB Circular No. A-123, Requirements for Payment 

Integrity Improvement until implementation guidance is published. 

102 
 

Fraud Reduction Report 

The Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-186, 31 USC 3321) requires 

agencies to report on their progress in implementing financial and administrative controls to 

identify and assess fraud risks. In FY 2019, the FEC assessed its progress and can report that it 

has adequate financial and administrative controls in place to identify and assess fraud risks as 

well as monitor and mitigate the potential for fraud and improper payments. 

The agency uses OMB Circular A-123, as revised, GAO-14-704G, The Standards for Internal 

Control in the Federal Government (the Green Book), GAO-15-593SP, A Framework for 

Managing Fraud Risks in Federal Programs, and the Association of Government Accountant’s 

Fraud Prevention Tool as a guide for its fraud reduction efforts. 

In FY 2017, the agency created the Senior Management Council (SMC) to monitor and manage 

risk to the agency achieving its operational, strategic, and compliance objectives. The SMC 

updates the agency Risk Profile on an annual basis, facilitates the detection and remediation of 

fraud risk throughout the agency, and addresses potential fraud issues during its quarterly 

meetings. The agency Risk Profile can be found in Section I, Management’s Discussion and 

Analysis, under Risk Identification and Mitigation. In addition, the SMC oversees the agency’s 

annual Internal Control Review (ICR) process which is based on GAO’s Green Book. As part of 

the ICR, each program office conducts an evaluation of fraud risk, documents controls in place, 

and reports on mitigating activities. 

The FEC uses a risk-based approach to design and implement controls. It has controls in place to 

address identified fraud risks related to payroll, procurement, information technology and security, 

asset safeguards, and purchase and travel cards. The agency does not issue beneficiary payments 

or grants. 

Financial and administrative controls in place to monitor and mitigate potential fraud include 

documented system authorization procedures, manager oversight and approval of transactions, and 

separation of duties. Financial activity is tracked, monitored, and reviewed or reconciled on a 

periodic (monthly or quarterly) basis. The agency utilizes resources such as Treasury’s Do Not 

Pay system, GSA’s System for Award Management (SAM), and the Internal Revenue Service’s 

Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Match Program to facilitate data analytics. To safeguard 

assets, the FEC has tracking processes in place, conducts a biannual physical inventory count, and 

maintains equipment in a secure location. The FEC has comprehensive controls in place to address 

information technology and security fraud risks to include automated system controls. 

Payroll is the largest expenditure for the agency, with salaries and benefits constituting seventy 

(70) percent of the FEC’s costs. Payroll is tested for improper payments under the Improper 

Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA). Improper Payments Act reporting details can 

be found in Section III of the AFR under Other Information. 

Finally, the FEC works closely with the OIG to identify and address fraud. The FEC had no 

reported instances of fraud in FY 2020. 

103 
 

Reporting on Internal Controls Assurances 

The FEC is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control and financial 

management systems that meet the objectives of the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 

1982 (FMFIA), as implemented by OMB Circular A-123, revised, Management’s Responsibility 

for Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Control. Internal control is an integral component 

of management to provide reasonable assurance that (1) programs operate effectively and 

efficiently, (2) financial reports are reliable, and (3) programs comply with applicable laws and 

regulations. The FEC conducted its evaluation of internal control in accordance with OMB 

Circular A-123. Based on the results of the Fiscal Year 2019 internal control review, the FEC 

reported no material weaknesses under the FMFIA and is able to provide an unqualified statement 

of assurance that the internal controls and financial management systems meet the objectives of 

the FMFIA. 

The Annual Assurance Statement on Internal Control which was signed by the FEC Chair in 

accordance with OMB Circular A-123 and provided in “Section I.D: Analysis of FEC’s Systems, 

Controls and Legal Compliance” is supported by detailed assurances from each of the FEC’s 

assessable units. 

The assessable units that participated in the internal controls review process and provided 

assurances were as follows: 

• Office of Communications 

• Office of Compliance 

• Office of Equal Employment Opportunity 

• Office of Management and Administration 

• Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

• Office of the Chief Information Officer 

• Office of the General Counsel 

• Office of the Inspector General 

Detailed assurances from each of these assessable units were provided to the FEC’s OIG and 

independent auditor to support the single assurance statement signed by the FEC Chair. 

104 
 

Civil Monetary Penalties Adjustment for Inflation 

The following is the FEC’s table of Civil Monetary Penalties Adjustment for Inflation for FY 

2020. 

US Code 

Statutory Authority; 

Public Law 

Year of 

Enactment/Adjus 

tment Other 

Than Pursuant to 

IAA 

Name/Description of 

Penalty Latest Annual Inflation of Adjustment 

Section in Title 

11 of CFR for 

Penalty Update 

Detail 

Current Penalty or 

Penalty Formula 

Federal Election Violations of FECA or 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

52 U.S.C. Campaign Act chapters 95 or 96 of title 66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

30109(a)(5)(A), Amendments of 1976, 26 of U S Code https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

(6) PL 94-283 sec. 109 1976 m?docid=401529 111.24(a)(1) 20,288 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(5)(B) 

Federal Election 

Campaign Act 

Amendments of 1976, 

PL 94-283 sec. 109 1976 

Knowing and willful 

violations of FECA or 

chapters 95 or 96 of title 

26 of U S Code 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.24(a)(2)(i) 43,280 

Bipartisan Campaign 

Knowing and willful 

contributions in the name 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(5)(B) 

Reform Act of 2002, 

PL 107-155 sec. 312(a) 2002 

of another https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.24(a)(2)(ii) 70,973 

Federal Election 

Campaign Act 

Making public an 

investigation without 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(12) 

Amendments of 1976, 

PL 94-283 sec. 109 1980 

consent https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.24(b) 6,069 

Knowingly and willfully 

making public an 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(12) 94-283 sec. 109 1980 

investigation without 

consent 

https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.24(b) 15,173 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(4)(C) 

Treasury and General 

Government 

Appropriations Act, 

2000, PL 106-58 sec. 

640 2003 

Late and Non- Filed 

Reports 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.43(a) 

Penalty formula that 

accounts for (a) level of 

activity in late or nonfiled report; and (b) if 

report was filed late, (i) 

the number of days late 

and (ii) the number of 

previous violations; or 

(c) if the report was not 

filed, the number of 

previous violations) 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(4)(C) 

Treasury and General 

Government 

Appropriations Act, 

2000, PL 106-58 sec. 

640 2003 

Election Sensitive Late and 

Non-Filed Reports 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.43(b) 

Penalty formula that 

accounts for (a) level of 

activity in late or nonfiled report; and (b) if 

report was filed late, (i) 

the number of days late 

and number of previous 

violations; or (c) if the 

report was not filed, the 

number of previous 

violations) 

Treasury and General 

Government 

Appropriations Act, 

Late or Non-Filed Reports 

where Commission cannot 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(4)(C) 

2000, PL 106-58 sec. 

640 2000 

calculate amount of 

activity 

https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.43(c) 8,135 

52 U.S.C. 

30109(a)(4)(C) 

Treasury and General 

Government 

Appropriations Act, 

2000, PL 106-58 sec. 

640 2000 

Late or Non-Filed 48 hour 

notices 

Civil Monetary Penalties Annual 

Inflation Adjustments, 83 Fed. Reg. 

66593 (Dec. 27, 2018), 

https://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.ht 

m?docid=401529. 111.44 

Penalty formula is 149+ 

(.10 x amount of 

contribution(s) not 

timely reported), 

subject to a 25% 

increase for each prior 

violation 

105 
 

APPENDIX 

List of Acronyms 

AFR Agency Financial Report 

AO Advisory Opinion 

APR Annual Performance Report 

ASD Administrative Services Division 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

CSRS Civil Service Retirement System 

CY Calendar Year 

DCIA Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 

DOL Department of Labor 

EEO Equal Employment Opportunity 

ERM Enterprise Risk Management 

FAR Financial Audit Report 

FASAB Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board 

FBWT Fund Balance with Treasury 

FEC Federal Election Commission 

FECA Federal Election Campaign Act 

FERS Federal Employees' Retirement System 

FMFIA Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act 

FRAE Further Revised Annuity Employees 

FRDAA Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act 

FY Fiscal Year 

GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles 

GSA General Services Administration 

IG Inspector General 

IPERA Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act 

IPERIA Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act 

IPIA Improper Payments Information Act 

MD&A Management's Discussion and Analysis 

NPRM Notices of Proposed Rulemaking 

NTEU National Treasury Employee Union 

OAR Office of Administrative Review 

OCFO Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

OCIO Office of the Chief Information Officer 

OGC Office of General Counsel 

OHR Office of Human Resources 

106 
OMB Office of Management and Budget 

OPM Office of Personnel Management 

OSD Office of the Staff Director 

P&E Property and Equipment 

PPA Prompt Payment Act 

RAD Reports Analysis Division 

RAE Revised Annuity Employees 

SBR Statement of Budgetary Resources 

SCA Statement of Custodial Activity 

SFFAS Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 

SMC Senior Management Council 

SNC Statement of Net Cost 

SSAE Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements 

TSP Thrift Savings Plan 

107