Hearing of the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections - Enforcement Guidelines Going Public for Unelected Federal Bureaucrat

Statement

Rep. Todd Rokita pressed Federal Election Commission administrators on their refusal to make enforcement guidelines public and addressed the larger issue of unelected federal bureaucrats making decisions in secret during a House Administration Subcommittee on Elections hearing today:

While questioning FEC administrators Rokita said:

"We are a country of laws, not men...None of you [FEC administrators]are that important that you can't disclose what you're doing as a public business."

After the hearing Rokita added:

"As Indiana Secretary of State for eight years, I ran an elections agency and a securities agency so I understand there is a clear distinction between protecting investigative material and ensuring transparent enforcement guidelines. It is critical that the FEC, an agency tasked with ensuring transparency in campaign finance, leads by example and conducts its affairs with transparency.

But let's be clear. The FEC's actions are indicative of a larger problem of unelected bureaucrats making decisions in secret throughout the Federal government. Whether we are talking the EPA, the NLRB or OSHA, every day we see blatant examples of unelected officials making decisions with far reaching implications in secrecy with little or no oversight.

Congress must rein in the federal bureaucracy. It will take a combination of actions like aggressive oversight hearings and programs like Red Tape Rollback to repeal and prevent regulatory overreach. It will be a long fight, but a fight critical to preserving the rule of law and rebuilding our economy."

Source