All eyes should be on Executive Order 14215 and three-term U.S. president language
Attorney General Pam Bondi is trying to give Trump and his administration authority over the Federal Election Commission
Keep in mind the kind of changes that Trump is intending to make to the Constitution, one of which is specifying that a president can run again, but only if he has not completed two consistent terms (which would exclude former President Barack H. Obama, along with a few other living presidents, out of the possibilities). This plan is similar to what Russian leader Vladimir Putin did.
A constitutional referendum in 2020 effectively allowed Putin to run for a further two six-year terms after 2024 by removing “in a row” from the article regulating presidential term limits. That discounted his previous and current terms. This referendum also made it possible for Putin to theoretically remain in the Kremlin until 2036 instead of having to step down last year.
Original post date: March 3, 2025
While the “Democrats aren’t doing anything” peanut gallery wasn’t looking, the actual Democrats were hard at work focusing on one of the latest (and sneakiest) ways that Donald Trump is allegedly trying to manipulate future elections.
According to Democracy Docket, a lawsuit was recently filed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its congressional campaign arms against Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and its commissioners to challenge Executive Order 14215. This executive order would allow Trump and his administration to have full authority over independent agencies, specifically the FEC.
The FEC is currently the independent regulatory agency charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law. It has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, presidency and the vice presidency.
It is responsible for disclosing funds raised and spent to influence federal elections, enforce restrictions on contributions that would unjustly influence federal election results, and disclose public financing of presidential campaigns.
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How the FEC came to be
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt recognized the need for campaign finance reform and called for legislation to ban corporate contributions for political purposes. Congress then enacted several statutes between 1907 and 1966.
In 1971, Congress instituted stricter disclosure requirements for federal candidates, political parties and political action committees (PACs). But without a central administrative authority, the campaign finance laws were difficult to enforce.
After financial abuse was discovered in the 1972 presidential campaign, Congress amended the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1974 to set limits on contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs. The 1974 amendments also officially established what voters now know as the FEC, which opened its doors in 1975.
What Trump’s administration is trying to change with the FEC
The Trump administration is stating that the Constitution vests all executive power with the president “and charges him with faithfully executing the laws.” Claiming it would be “impossible” for a president to single-handedly perform all of the executive business of the federal government, subordinate officers assist with these executive duties.
However, instead of maintaining three separate branches of government and allowing independent agencies to work outside of these institutions, Trump believes all of them are under the ongoing supervision and control of him. Referring to the FEC as one of those “so-called independent regulatory agencies,” he believes it should not operate with minimal presidential supervision and without him reviewing the FEC’s actions.
According to Trump’s administration and Executive Order 14215, “For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people's elected President.”
The Democrats disagree with this assessment and want to keep the FEC as an independent agency, as it has been for 50 years.
Before you go …
I made a comment on Bluesky about how I loyally follow three politicians: Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Governor J.B. Pritzker and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
One person replied about two politicians I had no knowledge of, one of which was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). I looked him up and had to chuckle at this video because the way he read off those countries was like DMX in “What You Want.” Sometimes I need a laugh to keep from crying. I watched this five times.
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