Inadequate Staffing and High Turnover in Congressional Offices Makes Lobbyists Too Powerful

A group of experts and close observers of Congress today sent a letter urging Congress to form a Joint Committee on the Capacity of Congress to examine and improve congressional operation, which is suffering from understaffing and underfunding.

Since 1980, staffing in the House has declined, and since 1994, staffing in the Senate has remained mostly stagnant. The number of staff devoted to policy has also decreased, especially in the U.S. House where committee staffing is about half of what it was in 1980.

“Congress has been doing government on the cheap for decades. And we get what we pay for,” the letter says. “As the richest nation in the world, we can and should afford to spend a little more to make sure we have some of the smartest, most experienced people in the world making our laws.”

“Too often, going to work on the Hill is seen as a way to get your ticket punched on your way to a lucrative career on K St.,” said Campaign Legal Center’s Policy Director Meredith McGehee.  “As a result of low pay and inadequate staffing levels, turnover among congressional staff is too high.  This lack of internal capacity empowers lobbyists since they are who the staff turn to for policy expertise.” 

"With the looming specter of a Trump presidency, the case for building congressional capacity has never been stronger,” said Lee Drutman, Senior Fellow at New America and author of The Business of America is Lobbying.  “Congress is the first branch of government, and the natural check on a dangerous executive. Yet Congress has spent decades cutting its own capacity, leaving it in a deeply weakened position. This presents a tremendous risk to the future of our nation."

The result of inadequate staffing and funding is a legislative branch incapable of accumulating enough institutional knowledge to be effective, and staffers who are more reliant than ever on lobbyists to help them understand basic details of policy.

Despite employing fewer people, salaries in constant dollars for the average Counsel, Legislative Director, and Legislative Assistant positions in both the House and Senate have also decreased by 9 to 20 percent between 2009 and 2013.

Signing the letter are Lee Drutman, Senior Fellow in New America’s political reform program, Meredith McGehee, Policy Director of Campaign Legal Center, Kevin Kosar, Senior Fellow and Governance Project Director at R Street Institute, Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

The letter recommends the newly proposed Joint Committee on Congressional Capacity:

• Review and make recommendations on staffing levels for committees and personal offices
• Review salaries and provide guidance to Senators and Representatives on regularizing staff pay
• Hold at least two public hearings to hear from outside experts and interested parties on staffing and salaries
• Issue a public report on its recommended changes

The letter was sent to the Congressional leadership with copies to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Appropriations Committees, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Rules Committee and House Committee on Administration.

Local Governments are Now Seeking Thousands of Dollars in Attorneys’ Fees for What They Claim are “Frivolous” Voting Rights Challenges 

WASHINGTON – The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is representing voters in Quitman County, Miss. against a legal action seeking more than $300K in attorneys’ fees. Longtime civil rights attorney Ellis Turnage brought a lawsuit on behalf of two voters challenging the county’s redistricting plan. Before trial, plaintiffs decided to dismiss the case. The county then turned around and claimed the suit was “frivolous,” seeking attorneys’ fees against Turnage and his clients.

The Voting Rights Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, along with attorneys at the Campaign Legal Center, today filed a joint response in the case Figgs and Jackson v. Quitman County arguing the case was based on well-established law and supported by Dr. Allan Lichtman, one of the foremost experts in the field. 

“This is not an isolated case,” said Gerry Hebert, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center. “Unfortunately, we are starting to see a trend of these unsupported motions for fees, as local governments try to chill voting rights litigation. The U.S. Supreme Court, after gutting a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in the Shelby County v. Holder decision, has left litigation as one of the only methods to protect voters. Already, we have too few voting rights attorneys who can bring these complicated cases. Now, livelihoods are being threatened in an effort to avoid accountability for discriminatory voting rights practices. It’s malicious, and courts should reject these motions out of hand.”

A prevailing defendant in a civil rights case can only recover attorneys’ fees if the action was “frivolous, unreasonable or without foundation.”  

“This is a purposefully high bar,” said Danielle Lang, CLC legal fellow. “The rule is meant only to deter nonsense lawsuits, not civil rights claims that may push the boundaries of our current law. If our system punished attorneys and their clients for these suits, we would have never seen the test cases brought by Thurgood Marshall, ultimately leading to Brown v. Board of Education, or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s courageous litigation establishing equal rights protections for women. Courageous litigation strategies are largely how civil rights law has evolved throughout our country’s history.”  

The Mississippi case is the second that the Voting Rights Institute lawyers at CLC have taken in an effort to preserve litigation as a robust way to protect against voter discrimination. Just last year, CLC attorneys represented a group of voters who challenged Albuquerque City Council’s (New Mexico) redistricting scheme. CLC successfully defended the voters against a city council appeal seeking attorneys’ fees against them. Unfortunately, the city council’s unfounded motion for sanctions of $48,000 in attorneys’ fees against the voters’ lawyers, represented by attorneys at Jenner & Block, is still ongoing. 

In November 2014, a district court actually granted Augusta-Richmond County’s motion seeking attorneys’ fees from the plaintiffs in a voting rights suit led by the American Civil Liberties Union, which alleged the longstanding civil rights organization filed a frivolous challenge. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that award.

Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 send IRS letter criticizing decision

WASHINGTON – Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21 in a letter sent today to the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, criticizing the IRS’ decision, made without explanation, to grant recognition to Crossroads GPS as a “social welfare” organization under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.

“By allowing an organization like Crossroads GPS to spend in our elections secretly and with impunity, the IRS has all but guaranteed that similar ‘dark money’ groups will proliferate,” CLC General Counsel Larry Noble said in an earlier statement. “It is impossible to defend depriving the public of the true sources of the funding behind the flood of political ads seeking to influence election outcomes as ‘promoting social welfare.’ The public has the right to know who is funding our elections.”

###

New complaint highlights more and more Super PAC donors are hiding behind LLCs as the FEC fails to enforce the law

WASHINGTON – The Campaign Legal Center, a leading campaign finance watchdog, along with Democracy 21, today filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), calling on the agency to investigate contributions funneled through “Decor Services LLC” to a pro-Chris Christie Super PAC, just 16 days after the corporation’s formation.

According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, it appears this company was set up for the purpose of laundering money to a political committee while hiding the true source of the funds, a clear violation of campaign finance laws.

 “Thanks to the FEC’s inaction, we’re seeing a growing trend of campaign donors skirting disclosure laws by hiding behind corporations to anonymously fund elections,” said Paul S. Ryan, deputy executive director of the Campaign Legal Center. “We call on the FEC to enforce the law. Otherwise, big Super PAC donors face no consequences, while Americans have no way of knowing who is funding and influencing elections, including whether illegal foreign money is creeping into American elections.” 

In a letter sent today, reform groups urged Senators to cosponsor the Federal Election Administration Act being introduced today by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM). The Act provides a framework and the basis for developing a new legislative approach for properly enforcing and interpreting the campaign finance laws and creates a new independent agency to replace the FEC.

The groups included Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Issue One, People for the American Way, Public Citizen, Rootstrikers and U.S. PIRG.

The letter stated:

The Federal Election Commission is a failed, dysfunctional agency that does not enforce or properly interpret the nation’s campaign finance laws.

As a result, campaigns, political operatives, parties and independent spenders know they can operate with impunity and without consequences for campaign finance violations. This has created the modern political equivalent of the Wild West without a sheriff. It also means that any new campaign finance laws that are enacted will face the same problem of being undermined by the FEC’s failure to enforce the laws as the current laws.

The letter continued:

The five-member FEA will consist of a chairman and four other members, all of whom are to be appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. (Currently the FEC consists of six members.)

…

The FEA chairman will serve a term of ten years and will have broad powers to manage and administer the agency. The four other members will serve staggered six year terms. No more than two members of the agency can be from the same political party.

…

The legislation would establish a blue ribbon advisory panel to recommend to the president at least one, but not more than three individuals for appointment to the FEA. The panel would consist of an odd number of individuals selected by the president from retired Federal judges, former law enforcement officials, or individuals with experience in election law.

The new agency would use impartial administrative law judges to hear and decide campaign finance enforcement proceedings, an approach currently used by a number of other enforcement agencies to help provide for independent, impartial decisions, but not currently used by the FEC.

The new agency would have real enforcement powers, including the power to find that violations of law have occurred and to directly impose civil penalties. These are enforcement powers available to other federal agencies, but not available to the FEC.

The letter concluded:

The legislation addresses major reasons for the failure of the current FEC, including the ineffectual structure and cumbersome procedures of the Commission, the politicization of the appointment of commissioners, the lack of effective enforcement powers and the denial of adequate resources for the agency.

We urge you to support and cosponsor the Act and begin the process of establishing a new, effective enforcement body to oversee the nation’s campaign finance laws.

To read the letter: click here. 

WASHINGTON – The Campaign Legal Center filled several new staff positions this quarter, building the organization’s capacity to effectively strengthen and protect our democracy during Election 2016 and beyond. 

“The narrative of the 2016 election cycle so far has been dominated by two themes – voter anger with the status quo, and the enormous amounts of money raised by candidates and their super PACs and related dark money entities,” said Trevor Potter, founding president of the Campaign Legal Center. “We are at a point in American history where our political process is characterized by division, disagreement and polarization. Americans – both Republicans and Democrats – overwhelmingly agree our democracy is broken. Americans do not like where we are and there has never been more demand for the expertise and strategic thinking that the Campaign Legal Center provides. We are extremely pleased to welcome these talented new team members who will help us become even more effective in achieving our mission.” 

Campaign Legal Center is pleased to announce the following changes and additions to its staff:

Catherine Hinckley Kelley, State and Local Reform Program Director

Catie Kelley has been promoted to lead CLC’s State and Local Reform Program. Catie joined CLC as a Legal Fellow in March 2014. Recognizing that the federal government continuously fails to act on issues of campaign finance, government ethics and voting rights, CLC is building a program under Catie’s leadership to help state and local partners draft effective reform measures, provide comments in regulatory proceedings and defend pro-democracy laws and policies in court. Catie has litigated a wide range of campaign finance and voting rights matters before state and federal courts and agencies. She previously worked as a staff attorney at the Federal Election Commission from 2010 to 2014. Read full bio.

Yasmin Khan, Chief Development Officer

Yasmin Khan joined CLC in January 2016 to lead and elevate the organization’s outreach and fundraising. She will connect a wide range of audiences to inspire and expand support for CLC's mission and enable the organization to meet the growing demands for its work. Yasmin brings more than 20 years of fundraising, non-profit management and communications experience to CLC and has held senior positions at a variety of nonprofit organizations and institutions. Most recently, she served as Director of Development and Communications at Tahirih Justice Center, providing the overall direction and coordination of the organization’s national fundraising and communications operations. She also served as the Director of Foundations at Human Rights First, where she managed a sizable portfolio of grants and prior to that served as Managing Director of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights in Washington, D.C. Read full bio.

Sandhya Bathija, Director of Strategic Communications 

Sandhya Bathija joined CLC in February 2016. She will build and implement an integrated press and digital strategy for the organization, and increase CLC’s public education and strategic media outreach efforts. Sandhya has an extensive background in nonprofit communications, advocacy and political and grassroots communications and campaigns. Most recently, Sandhya developed and implemented an integrated press and digital communications vision for Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, and previously served as the campaign manager for Legal Progress, the legal policy project at the Center for American Progress, where she led a communications and grassroots campaign on the federal courts.  Read full bio.

David Kolker, Legal Counsel

David Kolker joined CLC in January 2016. He brings decades of litigation experience and expertise to the organization. David has litigated cases in both the public and private sectors. He worked for nearly 20 years at the Federal Election Commission, where he litigated cases before federal courts on federal campaign finance laws, advised the Commission and its General Counsel and for several years led the agency’s Litigation Division. David joins CLC from the Federal Communications Commission where he served as the Deputy Bureau Chief, Enforcement Bureau. Read full bio.

Brendan Fischer, Associate Counsel

Brendan Fischer will join CLC on March 14, 2016. Brendan has expertise in campaign finance and government transparency issues and will litigate a broad range of election and campaign finance cases. Mr. Fischer was previously General Counsel with the Center for Media and Democracy, where he led the watchdog group’s legal research and advocacy efforts. He is also a writer whose work has appeared in outlets such as The Nation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Washington Times, and has been a frequent commentator for national and state television, radio and print outlets.