Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Restoring Integrity to America's Elections Act
This bill revises provisions regarding the Federal Election Commission (FEC), including to change FEC membership.
Specifically, the bill reduces the number of appointed members of the FEC from six to five and permits no more than two members to be affiliated with the same political party. Further, it removes the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House as ex officio members.
Next, the bill establishes the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel to recommend to the President individuals for nomination to the FEC. The President shall appoint the FEC chair, subject to Senate confirmation.
The bill distributes the FEC's powers between the chair and the other FEC members. Further, it requires the FEC to ensure that its forms allow for the use of an accent mark as part of an individual's identification.
The bill modifies the process for (1) the FEC to initiate an investigation, and (2) a party aggrieved by the FEC's dismissal of the party's complaint or the FEC's failure to take action on the party's complaint to seek judicial review in federal court. Additionally, individuals who submit written comments regarding requests for advisory opinions must be given an opportunity to appear at FEC hearings on those requests.
The bill also permanently extends the FEC's administrative penalty authority.
Finally, the bill provides statutory authority for limitations on ex parte communications as applied to FEC members and employees. It also specifies that FEC attorneys may represent the FEC before the Supreme Court.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 26, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 26, 2021: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced it on February 26, 2021, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 6 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 26, 2021, 2022 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2022 days ago, on February 26, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers