Watchdog Challenges Relaxed FEC Rules on Coordination
A new complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission is testing the agency’s rules allowing campaigns to coordinate their canvassing efforts with outside groups without disclosing the donors who fund the efforts.
The complaint, filed by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of two voters in Wisconsin, alleges that President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign took advantage of an FEC advisory opinion ruling that coordinated canvassing expenditures are exempt from federal campaign finance reporting requirements.
That advisory opinion, the complaint argues, is legally dubious and conflicts with long-established laws and regulations dictating that campaigns report the source of funds used to pay for canvassing.
It claims that the coordinated canvassing efforts likely amounted to “multiple millions of dollars in expenditures” from donors whose identities weren’t reported to the FEC, effectively violating commission regulations and the Federal Election Campaign Act – the primary law governing campaign finance.
“As a result, to this day, the source of what is likely to be millions of dollars used to finance the Trump campaign’s canvassing activities remain unknown, unreported by either the Trump campaign or the outside groups,” the complaint argues.
The complaint asks the FEC to investigate whether Trump’s campaign – which now operates as a leadership PAC called Never Surrender, Inc. – should have reported the source and value of donations to the nonprofit Turning Point Action, which funded a $100 million get-out-the-vote effort in 2024.
Relaxed Coordination Rules
Campaigns and party committees have historically run their own turnout operations. But an FEC advisory opinion handed down last year paved the way for campaigns and outside groups to collaborate on canvassing efforts, loosening rules that barred campaigns and outside groups from coordinating and exchanging things like data and messaging.
Trump’s campaign almost immediately took heed of the relaxed rules. Weeks after the advisory opinion, top campaign officials invited outside groups to a meeting in Palm Beach to discuss ways to collaborate ahead of the general election, according to a letter obtained first by Politico. Turning Point Action was reportedly among the groups invited to the meeting.
In a statement, CREW’s Director of Campaign Finance Litigation Stuart McPhail said that the FEC’s advisory opinion “only serves to leave voters in the dark” when it comes to the donors funding efforts that serve a critical role in campaigning.
“Voters deserve to know who’s funding or supporting campaign outreach so that they can make a fully informed decision,” McPhail said. “If the FEC does not address this loophole and enforce the law, bad actors can feel emboldened to flout the law and leave the public in the dark.”
For now, at least, the complaint isn’t likely to gain much traction. The FEC lost its quorum last month after now-former Commissioner Allen Dickerson resigned his seat at the agency. Without at least four commissioners, the FEC can’t perform high-level functions like issuing advisory opinions or making enforcement decisions.
Trump has yet to nominate replacements for any one of the three vacancies on the commission. And even when he does, those nominees will have to be confirmed by the Senate before taking office.
