'We are hobbled': Election watchdog at standstill before midterms after Trump disruption

With the midterms less than a month away, the Federal Election Commission can't open investigations, issue fines, write rules or give candidates formal legal guidance because it doesn't have enough commissioners, according to CBS News.

The agency charged with policing how campaigns raise and spend money hasn't been able to do any of those things since May 2025. It has not voted to "resolve a single enforcement case" or approved a dollar in new civil penalties since then, both of which require four commissioners. In the 12 months before that, it closed 180 cases and imposed about $1 million in civil penalties, according to agency records. Its backlog of enforcement cases has doubled in a year, from 154 to 307. The FEC declined to comment.

"Since there is just absolutely no enforcement mechanism right now, there's sort of blanket impunity for lawbreaking," said Adav Noti, a former top FEC lawyer who now runs the Campaign Legal Center. He said the perception that anything goes has led to "more boundary-pushing than we would otherwise see." Last month, his group filed a complaint alleging President Donald Trump illegally controls MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC.

The problem isn't one-sided. "It is very disconcerting that the FEC is incapable of carrying out any enforcement actions," Paul Kamenar of the conservative National Legal and Policy Center, told CBS News. His complaint accusing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of illegally using campaign money to pay a psychiatrist is also stalled. Her office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

The commission began to unravel as Trump returned to the White House. Republican Commissioner Sean Cooksey resigned in January 2025 to become a top lawyer for Vice President JD Vance. Weeks later, Trump removed Democratic Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub, who had served since 2002 and called the firing illegal. By the end of April, Republican Allen Dickerson had resigned, leaving the FEC one member short of a quorum. Republican Trey Trainor stepped down last October, leaving only two commissioners, both Democrats. For the first time since the FEC was created in 1974 after Watergate, it had no members from one of the two major parties.

"Other people report that we're hobbled, and I hate to agree with it, but we are hobbled," Democratic Commissioner Shana Broussard said at the time.

Trump nominated two Republicans in February, but nearly eight months later the Senate has not held a hearing on either.