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Law Story has acknowledged that Congress secretly drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the president’s little-used campaign fund to provide large sums of cash to the U.S. Secret Service and election security grants.
The massive raid on presidential campaign funds was included in Congress’ latest government funding package and signed into law by President Joe Biden late last week.
Law Story could not confirm who in Congress was responsible for inserting the language into the middle of the 1,012-page bill that would tap into the $375 million fund.
But the impact is clear. The Presidential Campaign Fund, which provided public funding to the campaigns of White House aspirants from the 1970s to the late 2000s, will now provide $320 million to the Secret Service as part of a $1.2 trillion budget for elections. It would provide $55 million in security grants. The funding package averted a partial government shutdown, according to a review of the bill by Raw Story.
According to the bill, $320 million would be earmarked for “operations and support” of the U.S. Secret Service, providing 11 hours of funding to key government departments through September.
Related article: Unspent government campaign funds bring in an additional $1.3 million.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, vice president (and their nominees) and foreign leaders, can use the funds for a variety of purposes, from purchasing vehicles to overtime pay and lodging on trips. In particular, former President Donald Trump has refused to reimburse local police at his presidential campaign rallies, and the Secret Service has previously received no funding from Congress, making it difficult to reimburse local governments for these security costs. He said he couldn’t do it. So.
The Secret Service acknowledged questions submitted by Law Story, including questions about how it would use the new funding. However, there was no response by the time of publication.
Members of the Secret Service watch as Marine One carrying U.S. President Joe Biden takes off from the South Lawn of the White House on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The $55 million designated as “election security grants” will be given to each state within 45 days by the Election Assistance Commission to “improve election administration for federal offices, including enhancing election technology and improving election security.” The bill states that it will be allocated.
The Election Assistance Commission, a small federal agency that has faced threats from Congressional Republicans for its very existence, is a small federal agency that has faced threats from Congressional Republicans for its very existence, according to Vote Beat, which first reported on the use of presidential campaign funds for the Help America Vote Act. , says federal funding has decreased significantly since 2018. (HAVA) Grants Awarded to States in 2002;
Federal funding for HAVA will be $380 million in fiscal year 2018, $425 million in fiscal year 2020, and $75 million in fiscal year 2022 and 2023, Election Assistance Commission Chairman Benjamin Hovland told Law Story. , and currently at $55 million in fiscal year 2024, he said.
“If you look at this number, it’s lower than we’ve seen in recent years, but one of the important things about this number is that it shows the federal government’s continued investment in election security and election administration. I think that’s what it means,” Hovland told Lowe. Speaking in a telephone interview. “We regularly hear from election officials about the need for additional federal funding, and then we also hear about the need for consistent federal funding.”
Hovland said the grant will help states update voting equipment, create cybersecurity training programs, strengthen physical security “to protect election officials from physical threats,” and use artificial intelligence to combat disinformation and It is said to be used for fighting.
The latest balance in the presidential campaign fund was just over $404 million as of February 28, according to U.S. Treasury statistics. Federal Election Commission spokesman Miles Martin said the agency has not approved matching funds for 2024 presidential candidates.
“The committee will continue to evaluate the applications of candidates who have chosen to apply for the Primary Matching Fund or the General Campaign Fund and will continue to provide updates on the fund balances they receive monthly from the Department of the Treasury,” Martin said. .
The U.S. Treasury Department did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment. The Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Affairs Department acknowledged Ro Storey’s questions, but had not responded by the time of publication.
“Modernized, not watered down.”
Thank you to then-candidate Barack Obama, who opted out of using the presidential campaign fund during the 2008 presidential campaign, effectively eliminating the presidential campaign fund.
While the fund poured public money into presidential candidates, it also set limits on overall fundraising amounts — limits that Mr. Obama initially said he would accept until he changed his mind.
President Obama’s Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, accepted money from the fund. He was the last major party candidate for president.
Sen. John McCain was the last major presidential candidate to receive public matching funds from the Presidential Campaign Fund. (AFP Photo/Chip Somodevilla)
Since then, presidential candidates of all stature have largely refused public funding for their campaigns, whether in presidential primaries or general elections.
This is largely due to the general loosening of campaign finance restrictions over the past 15 years, including a 2010 Supreme Court ruling. Citizens United v. Federal Election CommissionIt allowed businesses, labor unions, and certain nonprofit organizations to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates. It also gave rise to super PACs, political committees that could do the same thing.
Unused, presidential campaign funds swelled to $445.6 million last year.
For years, members of Congress, nonprofits and government watchdog groups have called for campaign finance reform and the reallocation of presidential campaign funds, which can be collected by checking a $3 checkbox on annual federal income tax returns. is funded by cash from Americans who voluntarily choose to do so.
Ian Vandewalker, senior adviser for elections and government programs at the Brennan Center, said the presidential campaign fund had been “rotten by a failure to update both the amount and timing of grants” for at least a decade.
Also read: Neuroscientists reveal how Trump and Biden’s cognitive deficits differ
“Major party candidates know they can raise more money and develop better primary strategies even when they don’t have the money,” Vandewalker said. “Nothing more needs to be done to legally repeal it. All that is needed is for it to be updated for use by candidates of major political parties.”
Some government reform groups say cutting presidential campaign funds is the wrong move.
“For years, presidential candidates from the major parties have not used this system, but rather than destroy it, it’s important to understand that the system is not being destroyed,” said Aaron Scherve, senior legislative director at Common Cause, a nonprofit government reform group. , should be updated and modernized.”
Scherve said Congress should reform the fund to align with today’s campaign financing realities and “not divert funds to other uses.”
“Taxpayers who check the box to donate a portion of their tax allocation to the Presidential Campaign Fund are doing so specifically for this fund and not for any other reason,” he said.
With the government facing an $828 billion deficit and a bipartisan fight threatening a government shutdown over the past year, it’s no surprise that the Presidential Campaign Fund has become embroiled in budget negotiations. Vandewalker said.
“It would be great if the president’s public funds were renewed, made beneficial to candidates, and used for their intended purpose,” Vandewalker said. “It’s clearly not being used for its intended purpose, so it’s understandable that it’s a ripe target for budget planning.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) previously told Law Story that presidential campaign funds would be better used to fill the nation’s budget gap.
“It’s just sitting there…This is just a small effort of many other efforts we’re doing to address this budget,” Ernst said in 2023. Have fun, so why do this?
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) advocated repurposing presidential campaign funds. (who)
Ernst did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
Common Cause and the Brennan Center are both working on a small-donor matching system for presidential campaign financing and the Voting Freedom Act, which aims to curb partisan gerrymandering and the influence of big money in politics. is supported.
“Too often, big dark funds control political decisions,” Scherbe said. “Certainly, money always plays a role in politics, but this presidential campaign fund will give nurses, teachers, and firefighters an extra megaphone within the political system and help ensure their voices are heard. It’s like providing an alternative to doing things at the presidential level. ”
Another bill stalled in Congress, the Enhancing Mass Participation to Offset the Electoral Role of the Wealthy (EMPOWER) Act, would support a small-donor matching system and “president “We will revitalize public financing of elections.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) reintroduced the bill along with Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA). No one responded to Raw Story’s requests for comment.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) called for a complete elimination of presidential campaign funds in January 2023. He is sponsoring the Pediatric Research Initiatives Enhancement Act, which, if passed, would direct remaining funding to pediatric research.
Cole’s congressional office did not respond to Law Story’s request for comment.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), chair of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees federal elections, did not respond to Law Story’s request for comment.
Prior to this month, the last disbursement from the Presidential Campaign Fund was in July, giving approximately $4,750 to the National Institutes of Health for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, a 10-year initiative to fund pediatric research. offered $1,000,000.
In 2014, President Obama signed legislation that eliminated funding for national political conventions and redirected funds that would have been used for that purpose to research to support childhood cancers and diseases.
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