Attack on Campaign Reform

The Federal Election Commission was established in 1974 to help prevent finance abuses in federal campaigns, but jaded Washingtonians have joked ever since that the agency is one of Congress’ greatest success stories, for it does just what that self-interested body intended: very little.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to laugh at a bill that Senate Republican leaders plan to introduce this week. It would leave the chronically underfunded agency more ineffectual than ever.

The FEC is run by six commissioners--three Republicans and three Democrats--and by a general counsel, who, to ensure bipartisanship, can be appointed or removed with four or more votes. The Republican measure, introduced by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), would allow the counsel to be removed with only three negative votes. That provision would allow a Democratic or Republican bloc to get rid of a general counsel who fell into partisan disfavor.

McConnell’s measure is a blatant attempt to remove the FEC’s general counsel, Lawrence Noble, who has called for an inquiry into the Republican Party’s use of “soft money” to finance “party-building” advertisements. McConnell took that personally, for as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee he raised more than $10.6 million in soft money during 1997, the most ever by a congressional party committee in an off-election year and a sum that far eclipsed the $4.7 million raised by his Democratic counterpart that year.

Noble, however, has come down even harder in recent months on the Democrats, ordering investigations of stalwart groups like the National Organization for Women and the California Democratic Party. Earlier this month, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno cited Noble’s FEC audit as the principal reason she chose to open an investigation into President Clinton’s use of soft money TV ads.

If the Senate fails to rebuff McConnell’s direct assault on this aspect of campaign finance laws, then Senate Democrats should weigh a filibuster to block its passage. The goal should be equality.