The Federal Election Commission's death by decapitation is part of this Administration's broader attack on fair elections and checks against corruption. My piece in The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"President Trump is intentionally sidelining the nation’s campaign finance watchdog. Restoring quorum is a fundamental necessity to safeguard against corruption.” - Former FEC Commissioner and ECU Senior Fellow @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social

Looking forward to a spirited conversation tomorrow about money, politics, the First Amendment, and the state of our democracy!

There’s nothing funny about using government power to silence comedians. Authoritarians hate being mocked. But the right to criticize the government lies at the very heart of the 1st Amendment.

Empowered by the Supreme Court, tech titans appear poised to deploy their vast wealth to try to buy a government that will impose no guardrails on their already powerful industry. What could go wrong? Silicon Valley Pledges $200 Million to New Pro-A.I. Super PACs www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/t...

Alarming story about federal attempts to interfere with election administration. Kudos to state and local officials who are resisting, fulfilling their duty to run a secure election. wapo.st/3IvgS0s

Out of the 64 complaints filed against Donald Trump with the Federal Election Commission, the nonpartisan staff recommended investigations into Trump 32 times—which Republican Commissioners voted against every single time. WATCH ECU's Senior Fellow @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social break it down 👇

Where's a good federalist when you need one? The Constitution leaves the running of elections to the states. Yet here seems to be a new effort to threaten election administrators with criminal prosecution, based on nothing but conspiracy theories. Alarming. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...

"Without a quorum, the agency [Federal Election Commission] is left really hamstrung in all of its decision making. This just emboldens people who seek to violate the law." - Former FEC Commissioner and ECU Senior Fellow @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social

The Big Ugly Bill is still pretty ugly, but at least they stripped out the moratorium on regulating AI. It’s too powerful a technology to assume we know what kind of constraints might be needed in the next 5 or 10 years. States are way ahead of the feds in at least requiring transparency.

Whether it's Musk buying his way into government, or the GOP making deep cuts to Medicaid to pay for tax cuts that benefit their donors, corruption has real life impacts. Watch ECU President @tiffanymuller.bsky.social and @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social, one of ECU's Senior Fellows, break it down. 👇

Bravo. It is appalling how eager this royalist Supreme Court is to shred any semblance of checks and balances on this autocratic administration. As Justice Jackson stated in her fiery dissent, the Court's decision is "an existential threat to the rule of law.”

The third consecutive cancellation of an open Federal Election Commission meeting is further proof of the corruption deeply embedded in this administration. No one knows the importance of transparency better than former FEC Chair and Commissioner @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social.

Good news/bad news on the GOP budget bill: The attempt to make it harder to sue the Govt by making litigants post huge bonds ruled out of bounds for reconciliation. 👍 But the provision seeking to stop states from regulating AI can be passed on party-line vote. 👎 www.budget.senate.gov/ranking-memb...

The First Amendment protects the right to challenge the government. When the government is violating people’s rights, protest is patriotic. The President thinks protesters are troublemakers who need to be silenced by force. Well, sign me up for some of that good trouble. See you on No Kings Day!

Another attempt to eviscerate checks and balances on the President.

Proud to join with Senator Jon Tester and @tiffanymuller.bsky.social at @endcitizensunited.bsky.social to continue the fight against corruption!

No one voted for graft and corruption. This Memorial Day, I honor the veterans who fought to defend democracy and a government of, by, and for the people. Let us recommit to the fight.

“In the 2004 election, . . . billionaires gave $13 million in political contributions; 20 years later, the country’s richest families spent more than 200 times that much.” We’re seeing the result when pay-to-play becomes normalized and shameless grifters take power.

Thank you for a wonderful town hall this Saturday, Denver! Defending our democracy has never been more important, and I couldn’t ask for better friends and allies in this fight than CO Secretary of State @jenagriswold.bsky.social and FEC Commissioner @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social.

Secretary @jenagriswold.bsky.social was proud to join Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United, and former FEC Commissioner @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social to discuss how important it is to defend American democracy. Thank you to all who came for this important discussion.

Speaking at #AmericanDemocracySummit, fired FEC Chair @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social says, "We need to look at who gets nominated because it matters. We need people who believe in the law to be serving in the government."

And then there were 3. ICYMI: The FEC needs 4 commissioners to make enforcement and policy decisions. When I was removed from office without cause and without a replacement, I warned that the FEC could lose its quorum. Now that's happened. No cop on the money-in-politics beat, Day 1.

$$ Millions more than the inauguration could have possibly cost, given by people and corps. with biz before the govt, & no duty to disclose where the $ goes. What could possibly go wrong? Trump Raised $239 Million for Inauguration, More Than Doubling His Own Record www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/u...

Not to state the obvious, but none of them were sent to a terrorist prison in El Salvador. They all had lawyers, indictment by grand jury, a trial or a guilty plea where a judge ensured it was knowing & voluntary & access to an appeals process. In other words, all the hallmarks of due process.

Go, Harvard! The administration’s attacks on civil society are ominous and unprecedented.

Good to see Harvard standing up for academic freedom.

Excited to be with thought leaders at the Conference on World Affairs in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. Check out the schedule. Most sessions live-streamed. I’ll be speaking later today and tomorrow on checks & balances (do they still exist?) and elections. www.colorado.edu/cwa/2025-sch...

Then there's this . . .

Beyond proud that we (Election Law Clinic at Harvard) go to work with Commissiomer @ellenlweintraub.bsky.social to file this amicus brief. Explaining the dire consequences of President Trump’s EO seeking to weaponize the FEC: www.hlselectionlaw.org/dncvtrump

3/ The president is trying to remove and silence opposition voices from government. I will continue to speak out about threats to our democracy. Turns out one doesn't need a gov't email address to make some good trouble.

2/ No one is more aware than I am of the limitations of the FEC but subjecting it to the control of the President risks weaponizing the agency that regulates the billions of $ spent on our elections.

1/ This administration’s war on independent agencies is particularly ominous when it comes to agencies with jurisdiction over elections. Yesterday I filed an amicus brief explaining the importance of maintaining the Federal Election Commission’s independence. static1.squarespace.com/static/60a55...

Honored to be mentioned in this moving column.

Worth a read.

Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner and Chair of the FEC. There's a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn't it. I've been so fortunate to serve the American people and stir up some good trouble along the way. That's not changing anytime soon.

Happening now: Observing the 15th Anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision: www.youtube.com/live/X5tL5xv...