Campaign Law Enforcement Panel Runs Without Confirmed Officials

WASHINGTON — With money already flowing at a record pace into the 2008 race for the White House, the federal agency charged with enforcing campaign laws is having trouble filling the top jobs.

In fact, the six-seat Federal Election Commission (FEC) is operating without a single member who has been confirmed for the panel.

Four appointees are waiting for Senate approval, one member whose term recently expired is staying on until a replacement is named, and one seat is vacant.

"It's the first time that all six seats have been technically open," said Bob Biersack, spokesman for the FEC.

Selecting the commissioners has long been a sensitive issue for Democrats and Republicans since the panel rules on violations and penalties for campaigns. With Senate confirmation held up, President Bush used his power to make temporary appointments during a Congressional recess.

Among those he named is Hans A. von Spakovsky, an Atlanta lawyer who has worked in the Bush Justice Department. Von Spakovsky has drawn fire for favoring a Georgia plan to require IDs for voters and for helping to approve a congressional redistricting map that helped Republicans win House seats. He has been waiting for formal Senate confirmation since January of last year.

Senate Administration Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has scheduled a confirmation hearing for June 13 for von Spakovsky and three of his colleagues.

Among them is the FEC Chairman Robert Lenhard, a Democratic former labor union lawyer who was also named by Bush but who has never been approved by the Senate.

Also in line for confirmation are Steven T. Walther, a friend of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and staunch conservative David Mason, who has been nominated for a second term on the FEC. Having a commission without a single confirmed member is "a sign of an agency that has had problems throughout its existence," said Fred Wertheimer, of the watchdog group Democracy 21, who has often criticized the FEC as a toothless enforcer.

"The normal process has been repeatedly bypassed by the White House and congressional leaders as part of a sweetheart arrangement," Wertheimer said, charging that each party gets to name its favorites to protect its own interests "at the expense of assuring that the public's interests are protected."

FEC spokesman Biersack said the commission has not been hampered by the lack of formal confirmations. He said the panel continues to make decisions and cited the more than $1.1 million collected in fines collected in the first three months of this year.