Oral history interview with Ellen L. Weintraub, 2020
Abstract
Ellen Weintraub discusses her service since 2002 as a commissioner on the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC). Weintraub provides an overview of the role and structure of the FEC and of the past and present of the campaign finance regulations that govern American elections, including the Supreme Court jurisprudence on campaign finance, the trend of campaigns refusing public financing for federal elections, and the rise of dark money in federal elections, which accelerated following the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen's United v. FEC (2010). Weintraub focuses on the asymmetric polarization of the FEC over the period of her tenure, as Republican-appointed commissioners have increasingly voted as a bloc, and in opposition to petitions for both investigations and enforcement actions of possible violations of campaign finance rules. Weintraub also discusses the rule-making that followed the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, the need for rule-making to keep pace with online political activity, Weintraub's advisory opinion deferring to states' definition of spouses for rules on spousal campaign contributions after the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Windsor (2013), and the effects of the increasingly conservative composition of the Supreme Court on campaign finance regulations
Presidents--United States; Campaign funds--Law and legislation--United States; Corporate speech--United States; Corporations--Political activity--United States; Weintraub, Ellen; Obama, Barack; United States. Federal Election Commission; United States; Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
80 pages
Note (Biographical)
Ellen L. Weintraub has served as a commissioner on the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) since 2002, and chaired it for the third time in 2019. Prior to her appointment to the FEC, Weintraub was of counsel at Perkins Coie LLP and counsel to the C ommittee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives, where she advised members on investigations. She also served as editor in chief of the House Ethics Manual and as a principal contributor to the Senate Ethics Manual
Note
Interviewed by Mary Marshall Clark on September 16 and November 24, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Ellen L. Weintraub, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022