On Friday, the National Democrats sued President Trump's executive order, aiming to expand White House control over various independent regulatory bodies.
Three Democrats' national political committees argue that Trump's orders could prevent independent agencies from taking legal status that is not consistent with the president's views.
They wrote in their complaints that the Watergate scandal has led to a “bipartisan perception” that federal government's campaign finance rules must be enforced neutrally. But Trump's executive order weakens that consensus and threatens to leave judgment on “a single partisan political figure – the US president.”
“This sudden departure from the statutory scheme threatens a major harm to the three Democrats' national political committees,” wrote Mark Elias, a lawyer for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and a lawyer for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
Democrats said Trump's order eliminates the requirement of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) that legal interpretations of the administrative division of the law reflect the consensus of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an expert and bipartisan committee.
The FEC is led by six commissioners appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. However, the official interpretation of the Commission's law must be supported by at least four commissioners, of which less than three can partner with the same political party.
The order, they argued, was to determine legal interpretations that could affect the complaints against the Democrats.
The three National Political Committee chairs said in a joint statement that Democrats will use “all tools” to combat Trump's “lawyers in court.”
“Americans are legally guaranteeing fair elections with fair judgements rather than a system in which Donald Trump can determine the campaign rules he wants from the White House,” said DNC Chairman Ken Martin, DCCC Chairman Susan Delbene, and DSCC Chairman Kirsten Gillibrand.
