Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1414 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reduce the number of members of the Federal Election Commission from 6 to 5, to revise the method of selection and terms of service of members of the Commis- sion, to distribute the powers of the Commission between the Chair and the remaining members, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2021 Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SARBANES, Miss RICE of New York, and Ms. BROWNLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reduce the number of members of the Federal Election Commission from 6 to 5, to revise the method of selec- tion and terms of service of members of the Commission, to distribute the powers of the Commission between the Chair and the remaining members, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1414 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Integrity 2 to America’s Elections Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP OF FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS- 4 SION. 5 (a) REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS; REMOVAL 6 OF SECRETARY OF SENATE AND CLERK OF HOUSE AS 7 EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL; QUORUM.—Section 306(a)(1) 9 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 10 U.S.C. 30106(a)(1)) is amended by striking the sec- 11 ond and third sentences and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘The Commission is composed of 5 members ap- 13 pointed by the President by and with the advice and 14 consent of the Senate, of whom no more than 2 may 15 be affiliated with the same political party. A member 16 shall be treated as affiliated with a political party if 17 the member was affiliated, including as a registered 18 voter, employee, consultant, donor, officer, or attor- 19 ney, with such political party or any of its can- 20 didates or elected public officials at any time during 21 the 5-year period ending on the date on which such 22 individual is nominated to be a member of the Com- 23 mission. A majority of the number of members of 24 the Commission who are serving at the time shall 25 constitute a quorum.’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1414 IH (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO 1 REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—(A) Section 2 306(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is amended 3 by striking the period at the end of the first sen- 4 tence and all that follows and inserting the fol- 5 lowing: ‘‘, except that an affirmative vote of a major- 6 ity of the members of the Commission who are serv- 7 ing at the time shall be required in order for the 8 Commission to take any action in accordance with 9 paragraph (6), (7), (8), or (9) of section 307(a) or 10 with chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal Rev- 11 enue Code of 1986. A member of the Commission 12 may not delegate to any person his or her vote or 13 any decision-making authority or duty vested in the 14 Commission by the provisions of this Act’’. 15 (B) Such Act is further amended by striking 16 ‘‘affirmative vote of 4 of its members’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the members of 18 the Commission who are serving at the time’’ each 19 place it appears in the following sections: 20 (i) Section 309(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 21 30109(a)(2)). 22 (ii) Section 309(a)(4)(A)(i) (52 U.S.C. 23 30109(a)(4)(A)(i)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1414 IH (iii) Section 309(a)(5)(C) (52 U.S.C. 1 30109(a)(5)(C)). 2 (iv) Section 309(a)(6)(A) (52 U.S.C. 3 30109(a)(6)(A)). 4 (v) Section 311(b) (52 U.S.C. 30111(b)). 5 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 6 REMOVAL OF EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—Section 7 306(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)) is amend- 8 ed by striking ‘‘(other than the Secretary of the Sen- 9 ate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives)’’ 10 each place it appears in paragraphs (4) and (5). 11 (b) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Section 306(a)(2) of such 12 Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(2)) is amended to read as fol- 13 lows: 14 ‘‘(2) TERMS OF SERVICE.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 16 Commission shall serve for a single term of 6 17 years. 18 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL APPOINT- 19 MENTS.—Of the members first appointed to 20 serve terms that begin in January 2022, the 21 President shall designate 2 to serve for a 3-year 22 term. 23 ‘‘(C) NO REAPPOINTMENT PERMITTED.— 24 An individual who served a term as a member 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1414 IH of the Commission may not serve for an addi- 1 tional term, except that— 2 ‘‘(i) an individual who served a 3-year 3 term under subparagraph (B) may also be 4 appointed to serve a 6-year term under 5 subparagraph (A); and 6 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of this subpara- 7 graph, an individual who is appointed to 8 fill a vacancy under subparagraph (D) 9 shall not be considered to have served a 10 term if the portion of the unexpired term 11 the individual fills is less than 50 percent 12 of the period of the term. 13 ‘‘(D) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy occurring 14 in the membership of the Commission shall be 15 filled in the same manner as in the case of the 16 original appointment. Except as provided in 17 subparagraph (C), an individual appointed to 18 fill a vacancy occurring other than by the expi- 19 ration of a term of office shall be appointed 20 only for the unexpired term of the member he 21 or she succeeds. 22 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON SERVICE AFTER EX- 23 PIRATION OF TERM.—A member of the Com- 24 mission may continue to serve on the Commis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1414 IH sion after the expiration of the member’s term 1 for an additional period, but only until the ear- 2 lier of— 3 ‘‘(i) the date on which the member’s 4 successor has taken office as a member of 5 the Commission; or 6 ‘‘(ii) the expiration of the 1-year pe- 7 riod that begins on the last day of the 8 member’s term.’’. 9 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 306(a)(3) of such Act 10 (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 13 select an individual for service as a member of 14 the Commission if the individual has experience 15 in election law and has a demonstrated record 16 of integrity, impartiality, and good judgment. 17 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE OF BLUE RIBBON ADVI- 18 SORY PANEL.— 19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the regu- 20 larly scheduled expiration of the term of a 21 member of the Commission and upon the 22 occurrence of a vacancy in the membership 23 of the Commission prior to the expiration 24 of a term, the President shall convene a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1414 IH Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel that includes 1 individuals representing each major polit- 2 ical party and individuals who are inde- 3 pendent of a political party and that con- 4 sists of an odd number of individuals se- 5 lected by the President from retired Fed- 6 eral judges, former law enforcement offi- 7 cials, or individuals with experience in elec- 8 tion law, except that the President may not 9 select any individual to serve on the panel 10 who holds any public office at the time of 11 selection. The President shall also make 12 reasonable efforts to encourage racial, eth- 13 nic, and gender diversity on the panel. 14 ‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDATIONS.—With re- 15 spect to each member of the Commission 16 whose term is expiring or each vacancy in 17 the membership of the Commission (as the 18 case may be), the Blue Ribbon Advisory 19 Panel shall recommend to the President at 20 least one but not more than 3 individuals 21 for nomination for appointment as a mem- 22 ber of the Commission. 23 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—At the time the 24 President submits to the Senate the nomi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1414 IH nations for individuals to be appointed as 1 members of the Commission, the President 2 shall publish the Blue Ribbon Advisory 3 Panel’s recommendations for such nomina- 4 tions. 5 ‘‘(iv) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL AD- 6 VISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal 7 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 8 does not apply to a Blue Ribbon Advisory 9 Panel convened under this subparagraph. 10 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITING ENGAGEMENT WITH 11 OTHER BUSINESS OR EMPLOYMENT DURING 12 SERVICE.—A member of the Commission shall 13 not engage in any other business, vocation, or 14 employment. Any individual who is engaging in 15 any other business, vocation, or employment at 16 the time of his or her appointment to the Com- 17 mission shall terminate or liquidate such activ- 18 ity no later than 90 days after such appoint- 19 ment.’’. 20 SEC. 3. ASSIGNMENT OF POWERS TO CHAIR OF FEDERAL 21 ELECTION COMMISSION. 22 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR BY PRESIDENT.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1414 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 306(a)(5) of the 1 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 2 30106(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 3 ‘‘(5) CHAIR.— 4 ‘‘(A) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—Of the 5 members first appointed to serve terms that 6 begin in January 2022, one such member (as 7 designated by the President at the time the 8 President submits nominations to the Senate) 9 shall serve as Chair of the Commission. 10 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS.—Any 11 individual who is appointed to succeed the 12 member who serves as Chair of the Commission 13 for the term beginning in January 2022 (as 14 well as any individual who is appointed to fill 15 a vacancy if such member does not serve a full 16 term as Chair) shall serve as Chair of the Com- 17 mission. 18 ‘‘(C) VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 19 select, by majority vote of its members, one of 20 its members to serve as Vice Chair, who shall 21 act as Chair in the absence or disability of the 22 Chair or in the event of a vacancy in the posi- 23 tion of Chair.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1414 IH (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1 309(a)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(2)) is 2 amended by striking ‘‘through its chairman or vice 3 chairman’’ and inserting ‘‘through the Chair’’. 4 (b) POWERS.— 5 (1) ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN POWERS TO 6 CHAIR.—Section 307(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 7 30107(a)) is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS BETWEEN CHAIR 9 AND COMMISSION.— 10 ‘‘(1) POWERS ASSIGNED TO CHAIR.— 11 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS.—The 12 Chair of the Commission shall be the chief ad- 13 ministrative officer of the Commission and shall 14 have the authority to administer the Commis- 15 sion and its staff, and (in consultation with the 16 other members of the Commission) shall have 17 the power— 18 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the staff 19 director of the Commission; 20 ‘‘(ii) to request the assistance (includ- 21 ing personnel and facilities) of other agen- 22 cies and departments of the United States, 23 whose heads may make such assistance 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1414 IH available to the Commission with or with- 1 out reimbursement; and 2 ‘‘(iii) to prepare and establish the 3 budget of the Commission and to make 4 budget requests to the President, the Di- 5 rector of the Office of Management and 6 Budget, and Congress. 7 ‘‘(B) OTHER POWERS.—The Chair of the 8 Commission shall have the power— 9 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the gen- 10 eral counsel of the Commission with the 11 concurrence of at least 2 other members of 12 the Commission; 13 ‘‘(ii) to require by special or general 14 orders, any person to submit, under oath, 15 such written reports and answers to ques- 16 tions as the Chair may prescribe; 17 ‘‘(iii) to administer oaths or affirma- 18 tions; 19 ‘‘(iv) to require by subpoena, signed 20 by the Chair, the attendance and testimony 21 of witnesses and the production of all doc- 22 umentary evidence relating to the execu- 23 tion of its duties; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1414 IH ‘‘(v) in any proceeding or investiga- 1 tion, to order testimony to be taken by 2 deposition before any person who is des- 3 ignated by the Chair, and shall have the 4 power to administer oaths and, in such in- 5 stances, to compel testimony and the pro- 6 duction of evidence in the same manner as 7 authorized under clause (iv); and 8 ‘‘(vi) to pay witnesses the same fees 9 and mileage as are paid in like cir- 10 cumstances in the courts of the United 11 States. 12 ‘‘(2) POWERS ASSIGNED TO COMMISSION.—The 13 Commission shall have the power— 14 ‘‘(A) to initiate (through civil actions for 15 injunctive, declaratory, or other appropriate re- 16 lief), defend (in the case of any civil action 17 brought under section 309(a)(8) of this Act) or 18 appeal (including a proceeding before the Su- 19 preme Court on certiorari) any civil action in 20 the name of the Commission to enforce the pro- 21 visions of this Act and chapter 95 and chapter 22 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 23 through its general counsel; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:24 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1414 IH ‘‘(B) to render advisory opinions under 1 section 308 of this Act; 2 ‘‘(C) to develop such prescribed forms and 3 to make, amend, and repeal such rules, pursu- 4 ant to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, 5 United States Code, as are necessary to carry 6 out the provisions of this Act and chapter 95 7 and ch [Text truncated for display. 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