Klobuchar is Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight jurisdiction over federal elections 

WATCH VIDEO OF KLOBUCHAR’S REMARKS HERE 

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight jurisdiction over federal elections, reiterated her opposition to the nomination of Trey Trainor to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as a nominee whose views are inconsistent with decades of Supreme Court precedent.

“Mr. Trainor has consistently worked to dismantle the rules that keep corruption out of our political system. He has spent his career arguing that people shouldn’t have to disclose political spending and has worked to stack the decks against voters by gerrymandering districts to dilute minority voting power. 

“Trainor’s views on disclosure are inconsistent with decades of Supreme Court precedent – including the views of the late Justice Scalia. When fellow Republicans in the Texas legislature worked to require politically active nonprofit organizations to disclose their donors, Trainor challenged them and said that such a law “would have a chilling effect on anybody’s ability to speak.

“Moving forward with this nomination today may restore a quorum, but it does not serve the American people. The American people deserve an FEC that works – an agency that enforces the law and protects our political system from corruption.”

Klobuchar also opposed the partisan nature of the nomination, a break from Senate tradition.

“I am deeply disappointed in today’s vote, which is a departure from the Senate’s long-standing tradition of considering FEC nominees on a bipartisan basis, and another step in eroding the traditions of the Senate all for a candidate that holds extreme views towards the agency that he would be appointed to…

“…Many people refer to the Senate as the world’s greatest deliberative body, because the Senate as an institution is designed for the careful consideration and debate of legislation and nominations. 

“When we erode the bipartisan norms that made us the greatest deliberative body – we end up allowing unqualified nominees who hold extreme views to be appointed to important positions in our government.”

Klobuchar has been a leader in the fight to restore a quorum at the FEC through the appointment of candidates from both parties. In January, Klobuchar led a letter to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urging the Administration to immediately nominate the bipartisan pair of candidates that have been submitted to President Donald Trump by Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to fill the current vacancies at the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This letter was preceded by one that was sent in August, where Klobuchar sent a letter to President Trump urging him to swiftly complete the vetting process on the Democratic candidate and put forward a nominee so that the Senate could move forward with the confirmation process.

Klobuchar is also a leader on campaign finance reform legislation. She has been a champion of the For the People Act in the Senate and is the lead sponsor of the Campaign Finance Transparency Act, legislation that would dramatically improve the functionality of the Federal Election Commission. Last October, Klobuchar introduced the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act. The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives, includes three Klobuchar provisions to secure U.S. elections, including the Honest Ads Act, PAID ADs Act, and Deceptive Practices and the Voter Intimidation Prevention Act. In October she also introduced the Help America Run Act. This legislation would make it easier to run for office by expanding the permitted uses of campaign funds to include child care, elder care, dependent care, and health care premiums.

Full transcript of remarks below and video available HERE

Madame President, we are here today to vote on a nominee, Trey Trainor, to be a Commissioner at the Federal Election Commission - the independent agency responsible for enforcing federal campaign finance laws.

I am deeply disappointed in today’s vote, which is a departure from the Senate’s long-standing tradition of considering F-E-C nominees on a bipartisan basis, and another step in eroding the traditions of the Senate all for a candidate that holds extreme views towards the agency that he would be appointed to. 

Prior to today, the Senate has voted to confirm 47 F-E-C nominees, and 42 of those nominees have been confirmed through a bipartisan process. 

As the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, I have repeatedly urged my Republican colleagues to work with us to get the F-E-C running again, as it is unacceptable that the agency charged with protecting the integrity of our campaign finance system has been without a quorum for 261 days – the longest period without a quorum in the agency’s history. But this is not the way to do it.

The F-E-C has been plagued by partisan gridlock for years. With the general election only 168 days away – we should be working together to make sure that the agency is working to the fullest extent possible. 

Americans are tired of hyper-partisanship and gridlock. This is not the time to abandon the bipartisan tradition of moving F-E-C nominees together. We need to work to restore their trust in our political institutions, and with this vote we are taking a step backwards. 

We all know that our campaign finance system is broken. Everyone in this room knows it.

Spending on campaigns has gotten out of control, and special interest groups are a major part of the problem. 

Experts project that at least $6 billion will be spent in the 2020 election cycle on political advertisements alone…that doesn’t count the billions that will be spent by the campaigns themselves…and the additional billions spent by dark money groups and special interests who are trying to influence this election. 

In order for our democracy to work, we need strong rules for campaign spending and we need a strong agency to enforce those rules. 

We should be working together – on a bipartisan basis –  to propose solutions to try and get the F-E-C back on track. I have a few ideas.

We should work together to pass legislation to reform the F-E-C’s rules so that it functions better. . . we should establish a working group that will investigate bipartisan solutions to improve the function of the F-E-C. 

And we should also work together to select strong nominees from both parties who will serve on the Commission with the understanding that they are there to enforce the law and protect our election system. And oh does this election system need protecting right now. We are in the midst of a pandemic. We have people standing in garbage bags and homemade masks in the rain in Wisconsin, just trying to exercise their right to vote. We have nearly 50 of those people who got sick. We have a poll worker who got sick. We have states all over the country with both Democratic and Republican governors who are desperately trying to get funding so that we can have more at home voting and have the polls open earlier and have it open for days so that people don’t have to all congregate on one day and that on that day we have to also make our elections safer. We have a lot to do, but we know that the enforcement agency when it comes to elections, for things like campaign finance, that is the F-E-C. And we know it is broken and we as a body should work to improve it. 

My Republican colleagues, this particular nominee, have repeatedly said that by confirming Mr. Trainor, they are doing something good: restoring a quorum. 

Ok, but that is not the full story of this nomination. It ignores the fact that gridlock will persist and that Republicans have intentionally left a Democratic seat on the Commission vacant for more than 1100 days. 

It ignores the fact that Leader Schumer and I referred a Democratic candidate to the White House for consideration, and that she has been vetted and cleared. She is immensely qualified and she would be the first person of color to ever sit on the F-E-C. 

Yes, that’s right. Not the first person of color now in this Congress, but the first person of color in the history of the Federal Elections Commission to serve on the Federal Elections Commission.

Since Republicans refuse to move forward in a bipartisan manner, the agency charged with enforcing our campaign finance laws will continue to remain ineffective. This undermines our country’s political institutions and it does not serve our country’s best interest.  

Many people refer to the Senate as the world’s greatest deliberative body, because the Senate as an institution is designed for the careful consideration and debate of legislation and nominations. 

When we erode the bipartisan norms that made us the greatest deliberative body – we end up allowing unqualified nominees who hold extreme views to be appointed to important positions in our government. Just at a time when we should be doing the opposite. 

In addition to these process concerns, today we are also being asked to move forward with a nominee to the F-E-C who doesn’t believe in basic campaign finance law. The F-E-C was created to enforce campaign finance law, so it is critical that the agency be staffed by commissioners who believe in its mission. 

Mr. Trainor has consistently worked to dismantle the rules that keep corruption out of our political system. He has spent his career arguing that people shouldn’t have to disclose political spending and has worked to stack the decks against voters by gerrymandering districts in Texas, to dilute minority voting power. 

Trainor’s views on disclosure are inconsistent with decades of Supreme Court precedent – including the views of the late Justice Scalia. When fellow Republicans in the Texas legislature worked to require politically active nonprofit organizations to disclose their donors, Trainor challenged them and said that such a law, “would have a chilling effect on anybody’s ability to speak.” 

Let’s just step back. That is fellow Republicans on the Texas legislature, simply trying, members of that body, trying to put some reforms in place so you know where those donations are coming from. And he spoke out against that. 

Moving forward with this nomination today may restore a quorum, but it does not serve the American people. The American people deserve an F-E-C that works – an agency that enforces the law and protects our political system from corruption. 

At a time when unprecedented amounts of dark money and foreign money are flowing into our elections, are influencing our courts, a fully functioning F-E-C is critical to safeguarding our political system. 

But, when it comes to a nominee for the agency in charge of enforcing our campaign finance laws, the absolute minimum qualification should be that the person actually believes in the mission of the agency. Is that too much to ask? 

We need to focus on how we can help the American people safely vote during this pandemic. I mean we need to focus on this pandemic, instead of the series of votes that we’ve seen this week, but if we are going to decide who should serve on the F-E-C during this pandemic it should be someone who believes in the mission of the F-E-C. We need to work together to hold hearings with bipartisan groups of election officials, like we have been working to do on the state level when it comes to how to vote in this pandemic. There has been a lot of good work going on with Republicans and Democrats, governors and secretaries of state. We need to do the same thing in this chamber as we approach major legislation and as we approach our workings with the F-E-C. 

I oppose the process by which this nominee has come to the floor and I believe the nominee’s extreme views are disqualifying for this important office. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote no on this nominee.  

Thank you Madame President, I yield the floor.

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