Posts tagged Federal Election Commission
Michael Watson: Improving Union Annual Reporting
July 3, 2025 // Especially following the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which “collection” is funding what spending is important information for union members, and they deserve ready, single-site access. (Citizens United overturned a Taft-Hartley Act–derived ban on using union dues revenues for independent expenditures on behalf of candidates.) They should not need to cross-reference Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports and Labor Department reports to infer which pot of money paid for which spending. Instead, the Labor Department or Congress should revise the LM-2 form to require labor unions to specify the funding source, perhaps by adding a new schedule for expenditures to or by the “Separate Segregated Fund” (the technical name for the “second collection” pot of money) or by requiring specification of the source of funds for Schedule 16 and 17 expenditures related to politics and advocacy.
The Latest: Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign
February 6, 2025 // Federal workers associations have filed suit asking a federal court to stop the Trump administration’s “effective dismantling” of the lead U.S. aid agency. The lawsuit by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees comes as the new Trump administration and ally Elon Musk are targeting the U.S. Agency for International Development for eradication, freezing its funds and placing almost all of its workers on leave or furlough.
DNC union blasts Dems for laying off workers without severance on one-day’s notice: ‘Betrayal of party values’
November 22, 2024 // “These cuts go far beyond typical campaign turnover and impact employees who were previously told their positions would be retained after the election. Chair Jaime Harrison and Executive Director Sam Cornale refuse to address their staff face to face and have offered no explanation,” the union added. Between January and mid-October of this year, the DNC hauled in some $539 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Unions’ political spending ignores almost 40% of their own members
November 4, 2024 // How can a union that purports to represent all of its members give so freely to only one political party? The answer: It can’t. At least, not while accurately representing its diverse membership. At best, public union executives are misrepresenting their members and are mismanaging their finances. At worst, they are engaging in coercion of dues and political corruption. Neither is a good look for the executives who claim to be helping everyday workers.
EXCLUSIVE: Powerful Union Suddenly Courting Republicans Spent Millions On Liberal Advocacy, New Report Reveals
June 20, 2024 // One of the biggest chunks of the Teamster’s advocacy spending, worth roughly $2.5 million, went toward “registered Democrats, Democrat Party-funded initiatives, Democratic campaigns and organizations that focus on advancing the interest of the Democratic Party,” according to the report. Recipients of union funds included The National Democratic Club, a social organization in D.C. where liberal elites meet to hobnob, failed Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ voting rights group, Fair Fight Action, and the inaugural committee of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The over $2.6 million in political donations made by the Teamsters’ PAC this election cycle have also skewed heavily to the left, with the vast majority of their funds going to Democrats and Democratic-aligned PACs like the Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors Association, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Teamsters donate $45,000 to RNC, records show
February 22, 2024 // The RNC denied receiving the donation in a statement to The Hill. The Teamsters union has not endorsed any presidential candidate for 2024 and has continued to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic causes in recent months, according to FEC filings, but the RNC donation helps buoy an organization that has struggled to fundraise in the 2024 cycle.
Op-Ed: Government unions divert dues to leftist politics
May 29, 2022 // According to the most recent LM-2 form submitted by the NEA to the Internal Revenue Service, the union raked in a staggering $377 million in dues and agency fees during 2021 alone. Of that total, however, only $32 million was earmarked for representational activity — ostensibly the NEA’s top priority.
Labor Union Gives $100K to Bernie Bro Embezzler
March 28, 2022 // A prominent labor union gave $100,000 to a super PAC run by a former Bernie Sanders campaign adviser who was convicted of defrauding another union.