FEC chair who sought to regulate Drudge slams colleagues as 'dysfunctional'
"My year as chair has taught me even more clearly just how dysfunctional the commission is, and how our dysfunction is harming the democratic process in this country," Chairwoman Ann Ravel wrote in an opinion piece for the California blog "CalBuzz" on Monday.
Since assuming the chair's position in January, Ravel has pursued an ambitious regulatory agenda that includes stricter regulation of campaign spending, eliminating some of the commission's members, and, as noted by the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard, new controls over online political content on outlets like the Drudge Report, Google and Facebook.
Ravel's initiatives have largely lost in tie votes before the commission, which is mandated to have no more than half its members appointed from one political party. The chairwoman began voicing her displeasure over the divide as early as April, when she slammed the agency as "dysfunctional" in comments to the New York Times.
The chairwoman, who is set to hand her gavel to a Republican successor next month, reiterated that line of attack in her piece on Monday.
"My year as chair has taught me even more clearly just how dysfunctional the commission is, and how our dysfunction is harming the democratic process in this country," Chairwoman Ann Ravel wrote in an opinion piece for the California blog "CalBuzz" on Monday.
Since assuming the chair's position in January, Ravel has pursued an ambitious regulatory agenda that includes stricter regulation of campaign spending, eliminating some of the commission's members, and, as noted by the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard, new controls over online political content on outlets like the Drudge Report, Google and Facebook.
Ravel's initiatives have largely lost in tie votes before the commission, which is mandated to have no more than half its members appointed from one political party. The chairwoman began voicing her displeasure over the divide as early as April, when she slammed the agency as "dysfunctional" in comments to the New York Times.
The chairwoman, who is set to hand her gavel to a Republican successor next month, reiterated that line of attack in her piece on Monday.