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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 431', '§ 441', '§ 110', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441']

FEC V. DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMM., 454 U. S. 27 - Volume 454 - 1981 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 454 > FEC V. DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMM., 454 U. S. 27 (1981) > Full Text
FEC V. DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMM., 454 U. S. 27 (1981)
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, 86 Stat. 11, as amended, 2 U.S.C. § 431 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. IV), limits the contributions that may be made to candidates or political committees in an election for federal office. One provision of the Act, § 441a(d), authorizes limited expenditures by the national and state committees of a political party in connection with a general election campaign for federal office. After authorizing such expenditures, which otherwise would be impermissible, [Footnote 1] the section specifies the amount a
In February, 1977, in response to an inquiry submitted late in 1976, the Commission issued an Advisory Opinion, 1976-108, that it would be consistent with the Act for the NRSC to spend its own funds in support of congressional candidates as the designated agent of the Republican National Committee (RNC). In April, 1977, the Commission issued a regulation, 11 CFR § 110.7(a)(4) (1981), which provides that the national party committees may make expenditures in the general election campaign for President "through any designated agent, including state and subordinate party committees." On the basis of this regulatory authority, the National Committee of the Democratic Party entered into an agreement specifying the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) as its agent for the expenditure of authorized funds in Senate campaigns. In 1978, certain state Republican Party committees designated the NRSC as their agent for § 441a(d)(3) expenditure purposes. [Footnote 2] Complaints were filed with the Commission challenging this practice as inconsistent with the Act. In dismissing these complaints, the Commission twice ruled by unanimous votes that the agency arrangements were not forbidden by the Act. In re National Republican Senatorial Committee, Federal Election Commission Matter Under Review (MUR) 780 (Jan.19, 1979); In re National Republican Senatorial Committee, Federal Election Commission MUR 820 (June 17, 1979). In 1980, certain state committees again designated the NRSC as their agent, and on May 19, the DSCC filed its complaint with the Commission asserting that the NRSC's agreements with the state committees were contrary to § 441a(d)(3). The complaint did not challenge the contemporaneous agency agreement under which the NRSC acted as the agent of the RNC in connection with the latter's expenditures under 441a(d).
on the statute by the agency charged with administering it is entitled to deference, NLRB v. Bell Aerospace Co., 416 U. S. 267, 416 U. S. 275 (1974); Udall v. Tallman, 380 U. S. 1, 380 U. S. 16 (1965), but the courts are the final authorities on issues of statutory construction. They must reject administrative constructions of the statute, whether reached by adjudication or by rulemaking, that are inconsistent with the statutory mandate or that frustrate the policy that Congress sought to implement. SEC v. Sloan, 436 U. S. 103, 436 U. S. 118 (1978); FMC v. Seatrain Lines, Inc., 411 U. S. 726, 411 U. S. 745-746 (1973); Volkswagenwerk v. FMC, 390 U. S. 261, 390 U. S. 272 (1968); NLRB v. Brown, 380 U. S. 278, 380 U. S. 291 (1965). Accordingly, the crucial issue at the outset is whether the Court of Appeals correctly construed the Act. For the reasons that follow, we disagree with the Court of Appeals. As we understand the Act and its legislative history, § 441a(d)(3) does not foreclose the use of agency agreements. The Commission thus acted within the authority vested in it by Congress when it determined to permit such agreements.
It is evident from its terms that the section does not, in so many words, forbid the state or national party to designate agents for expenditure purposes. This much is common ground. The Court of Appeals, however, held that, because § 441a(d)(3) permits expenditures in congressional campaigns to be made by national and state committees of the political parties, including subordinate committees of the latter, and because the NRSC was neither a national committee [Footnote 4] nor a state committee, it should not be permitted to make expenditures under any arrangement "by which the special authority of a named entity is transferred to another." 212 U.S.App.D.C. at 380, 660 F.2d at 779. Obviously, § 441a(d)(3) does not permit the NRSC to make expenditures in its own right. But, contrary to the Court of Appeals, it does not follow that the NRSC may not act as an agent of a committee that is expressly authorized to make expenditures. In the nature of things, a committee must act through its employees and agents, as the Court of Appeals recognized, and nothing in the statute suggests that a state committee may not designate another committee to be its alter ego and to act in its behalf for the purposes of § 441a(d)(3). To foreclose such an arrangement on the grounds that the named agent is not one of the authorized spenders under § 441a(d)(3) would foreclose all agency agreements regardless of the identity of the agent and regardless of the terms of the agency. [Footnote 5] Nothing in the Act demands that the choices available to the state committee should be so severely restricted.
of § 441a(d)(3), the Court of Appeals reads such disapproval into Congress' failure to explicitly provide for such arrangements. To bolster its argument, the court points to § 441a(h), [Footnote 9] which directly authorizes the national party committees, including the Republican or Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees, to contribute up to $17,500 to a senatorial candidate. This argument, if accepted, would only underline that the NRSC may not make additional expenditures on its own account. It does not answer the question whether a state committee may exercise its statutory spending authority by designating the NRSC as its agent for this purpose. [Footnote 10]
Neither does the legislative history of the Act purport to disapprove agency arrangements. The Court of Appeals refers to the defeat of the Brock Amendment, which would have exempted congressional campaign committees such as the NRSC from the Act's expenditure limits. [Footnote 11] 212 U.S.App.D.C. at 381, 660 F.2d at 80. But rejection of a proposal to permit congressional campaign committees to make expenditures in their own right does not necessarily affect their capacity to perform agency functions. Moreover, insofar as the intent of Congress is reflected in its failure to adopt a proposed amendment, a contrary -- and indeed stronger -- inference can be found in the rejection by the 96th Congress of an amendment that would have expressly
prohibited the movement of funds between state and national committees of a political party. [Footnote 12]
While acknowledging that deference is often appropriately given to an agency's interpretation of its governing statute, the court refused to accord that deference here because of what it perceived as the lack of a reasoned and consistent explanation by the Commission in support of its decision. We agree that the thoroughness, validity, and consistency of an agency's reasoning are factors that bear upon the amount of deference to be given an agency's ruling. See Adamo Wrecking Co. v. United States, 434 U. S. 275, 434 U. S. 287, n. 5 (1978); Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U. S. 134, 323 U. S. 140 (1944). We do not agree, however, that the Commission failed to merit that deference in this case.
On each occasion, the Commission followed the recommendation of its General Counsel. In his first report, [Footnote 13] the General Counsel emphasized the absence of any specific statutory prohibition of the agency arrangements, and also relied on § 441a(a)(4), [Footnote 14] which permits unlimited transfer of funds among state and national political committees of the same party. The second report, [Footnote 15] without rejecting any of the earlier arguments, also drew support from a Commission regulation approving similar agency agreements between national level committees. [Footnote 16] The third report, [Footnote 17] issued in this case, added an analysis of § 441a(d)(3), reviewed the legislative history, and took note of the fact that Congress had recently amended the Act with knowledge of the Commission's construction of § 441a(d)(3), and had let that construction stand. Unlike the Court of Appeals, we find the differences in emphasis in the three reports of little significance. All reach the same conclusion, none rejects the arguments of the others. [Footnote 18] The Commission consistently has upheld the agency agreements; the fact that Commission Counsel has had the luxury of a number of sound arguments on which to base his opinions does not detract from the deference due the agency's interpretations. [Footnote 19]
Section 441a(d)(3) fits into the general scheme by assuring that political parties will continue to have an important role in federal elections. [Footnote 21] Although the DSCC would transform this purpose into the more specific objective of stimulating political parties at the state level, none of the limited legislative
history concerning the provision supports this view. [Footnote 22] The legislative discussion of preserving a role for political parties did not differentiate between the state and national branches of the party unit. It is hardly unreasonable to suppose that the political parties were fully capable of structuring their expenditures so as to achieve the greatest possible return. Agency agreements may permit all party committees to benefit from fundraising, media expertise, and economies of scale. In turn, effective use of party resources in support of party candidates may encourage candidate loyalty and responsiveness to the party. Indeed, the very posture of these cases betrays the weakness of respondent's argument -- an argument that, at bottom, features one of the two great American political parties insisting that its rival requires judicial assistance in discovering how a legislative enactment operates to its benefit.
Nor does the fact that the Commission, following its customary practice, did not expressly adopt the General Counsel's report in announcing its decision "depriv[e] a reviewing court of any Commission record on which to base a deferential consideration." 212 U.S.App.D.C. at 378, n. 3, 660 F.2d at 777, n. 3. The Court of Appeals previously has held that the General Counsel's report to the Commission is sufficient to support the Commission's dismissal of a complaint. See Hampton v. Federal Election Comm'n, 2 Fed.Elec.Camp.Fin.Guide (CCH) � 9036, pp. 50,439-50,440 (DC 1977), aff'd, No. 77-1546 (CADC July 21, 1978). In this case, the General Counsel's report was made public simultaneously with the Commission's ruling. It was the third occasion on which the Commission followed the General Counsel's advice in this matter. Even without an express statement, it is sufficiently clear that the staff report provides the basis for the Commission's action.
The NRSC is, however, a "political committee" as that term is defined in the statute. [Footnote 2/3] Section 441a(a)(2)(A) provides
that no multicandidate political committee may make contributions to a candidate that exceed $5,000. [Footnote 2/4] Section 441a(h) provides, however, that
consultation, or concert with a candidate. In other words, the NRC could not be said to have violated the statute unless the NRC is deemed as a matter of law to be an agent of the candidate on whose behalf it expends funds. If this is the case, however, it would appear to me to follow almost automatically that the NRSC may act as an agent for the state committees in spending the amounts that state committees are authorized to spend by § 441a(d), since state committees are largely controlled by the state candidates that they serve. It would seem incongruous to hold that the NRSC must be treated as an agent of a candidate when it makes expenditures, but may not act as a lawful agent of that candidate's state committee.
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