Shawn Griffiths
WASHINGTON, D.C. - We now know what final action the FEC was able to take before it effectively shut down in May due to a lack of quorum. The FEC voted unanimously 4-0 on April 29 to fine California US Rep. Maxine Waters $68,000 for violating several campaign finance laws, according to recently published documents from the agency.
The bipartisan vote came one day before Republican Commissioner Allen Dickerson chose to leave at the expiration of his term instead of staying on in what is known as a "holdover stage" to preserve quorum. Federal law requires the FEC to have at least 4 commissioners to perform its most critical enforcement functions.
The agency was designed to have a max of 6 members evenly split between the Republican and Democratic Parties.
With Dickerman's departure, which followed the resignation of fellow Republican Sean Cooksey and the firing of long-time Democratic commissioner and former FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub, the FEC only has 3 commissioners left -- meaning it has essentially shut down until President Trump nominates at least one more commissioner.
As Trump hasn't offered up any nominees since taking office in January, the Waters fine could be the last enforcement measure the FEC takes for a long time.
According to OpenSecrets, the FEC found that Waters' 2020 campaign committee, Citizens for Waters, "understated contributions and expenditures by hundreds of thousands of dollars, accepted $19,000 worth of excessive contributions and made $7,000 worth of 'prohibited cash disbursements' from a petty cash fund."
Waters' campaign committee did not object to paying the fine and agreed to send its treasurer to a FEC-sponsored training program for political committees. This is not the first time her campaign has come under investigation. The FEC voted 5-1 in 2021 to dismiss a complaint that she accepted an illegal campaign contribution in 2018.
Rep. Waters represents California's 43rd Congressional District, which includes parts of the Los Angeles area. The seat is so safe for Waters that she has consistently won re-election with over 70% of the vote and has been a member of Congress since 1991.
By law, the FEC is the only federal agency tasked with enforcing campaign finance laws. With record-breaking election spending and a system in which bad actors constantly try to exploit loopholes or partisan gridlock, there is plenty of uncertainty over who might try to get away with what in the upcoming 2026 midterms now that the FEC can't perform its primary function.