The community of federal campaign oversight will undergo significant downsizing following announcements from the Federal Election Commission and the House Administration Committee, Wednesday. Tony Herman, General Legal Counsel to the Federal Election Commission, will leave the agency this July and the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) moved one inch closer to being scrapped. In a statement, FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub said, “I want to thank Tony for his outstanding service to this agency and to the American public.” He will return to Covington & Burling, LLP where he was a partner before joining the FEC in 2011. The FEC has been understaffed since February when former commissioner, Cynthia Bauerly, left after serving nearly a 5-year term. Now with five out of six commissioners, each serving expired terms, the agency will need to locate a new General Counsel before July 7.
“I enjoyed working at the FEC during an important juncture in the nation’s election cycle, but I look forward to returning to Covington, a truly unique and wonderful law firm,” said Herman in a release. His replacement has not yet been announced, but Gregory Baker is the current Deputy General Counsel.
The Office of General Counsel consists of five units within the commission: Deputy General Counsel in charge of administration (Gregory Baker) and law (Lisa Stevenson), followed by the Enforcement (Daniel A. Petalas), Litigation (Kevin Deeley) and Policy (Adav Noti) Divisions.
Similarly, the House Administration Committee, led by Chairman Candice Miller (R-Michigan), approved three bills Wednesday that would dismantle the ‘obsolete’ Election Assistance Commission as well as end public financing for party conventions via the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF).
Full Article: House Lawmakers See Elections Oversight Committee as Waste of Money.