Larry Norton was quoted on March 14, 2018, in The Washington Post in an article about President Trump's inaction on beefing up the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the agency that could serve as a key player in his avowed agenda to reduce the influence of moneyed interests on politics. To date, Trump has only nominated one new commissioner to fill the two open spots on the panel. The remaining four commissioners are serving on expired terms, two of which ended as long as a decade ago. If one more leaves without being replaced, the FEC will lack a quorum and be effectively paralyzed.
It may take the resignation of one more commissioner and loss of quorum to prompt urgency, said Mr. Norton.
The last time that happened was in 2008, when only two of the six seats were filled at the start of a presidential election year.
The two commissioners still held meetings, but there was a backlog of complaints, Norton said. Then, once new commissioners were confirmed, there was a "ramp-up time" as they got adjusted to their new roles, which led to further delays, he said.
"It's certainly foreseeable that we could be in the same position soon once again in an election year," Norton said.