FEC Weighs Expanding Candidates’ Ability to Pay for Security With Campaign Funds

The Federal Election Commission is considering a new rule that would expand federal candidates’ ability to use their campaign funds to pay for security.

On July 17, the FEC released a response to repeated inquiries about the issue. The regulator said it is actively considering a new rulemaking that is expected to be concluded in the coming months.

However, other candidates have been in the spotlight in past months for using campaign funds to pay private security contractors.

Namely, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said in January that she was under investigation by the Department of Justice for payments she said were for security services.

Additionally, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has paid millions from his principal campaign committee, Team Kennedy, to a private security firm—Gavin De Becker and Associates—throughout his campaign.

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According to the release, the commission is considering adding new language to its rules surrounding security payments.

It would specify that security payments are not for “personal use” if the payments are made to address threats that “would not exist irrespective of the individual’s status or duties as a federal candidate or officeholder.”

Under the current law established by the Federal Election Campaign Act, federal candidates and officeholders are barred from using campaign contributions for personal use.

However, it is up to the commission to determine whether using campaign funds for certain payments was improper.

The commission is scheduled to hold its next open meeting on July 25 at its headquarters in Washington. As of July 18, the FEC has not announced its schedule for the meeting.

As a former head of the executive branch, former President Trump and his wife Melania Trump are entitled to Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives, unless they decline it.