On Friday, the Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against President Trump, claiming that he had broken federal election law by claiming control over independent executive-branch organizations, including the bipartisan Federal Election Commission. The three national Democratic committees filed the complaint together in a federal court in Washington, D.C., marking the first time the party has brought legal action against Mr. Trump during his second administration. It occurs at a time when Democrats are engaged in a heated internal dispute about how to counter Mr. Trump’s proposed federal government reform.
According to the order, federal agencies are not allowed to interpret the law in a different way than the attorney general or president. Democrats contend that this claim essentially places the president directly in charge of overseeing the bipartisan Federal Election Commission, which controls federal office campaigns. According to the Democrats’ lawsuit, “the executive order purports to give President Trump — the Republican Party leader — the ability to order the F.E.C. to take particular positions on any question of law arising in the commission’s performance of any of its duties.” Additionally, the complaint contends that the executive action undermines Congress by breaking federal election law. The lawsuit claims that the assertion is irreconcilable with nearly a century of Supreme Court precedent that upholds Congress’s right to shield specific agencies and people from the president’s day-to-day power.
Democrats have consistently criticized Republicans for their alleged unfair and undemocratic tactics to sway elections. Ken Martin, the newly appointed chairman of the D.N.C., joined a lawsuit challenging new, Republican-backed election restrictions in Georgia as one of his first actions. A request for comment was not immediately answered by the White House or the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is also named in the complaint. Both parties have been taking advantage of the Federal Election Commission’s dysfunction for years, accusing it of being impotent or ineffectual, sometimes even missing the necessary number of members to convene, and frequently immobilized by impasse. Democrats claim in the lawsuit that the commission is currently considering a number of complaints, including “a meritless complaint” against the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee alleging that the group “improperly classified” four advertisements in the 2024 election season. The complaint is cited as a cause for potential harm if the commission is restructured under the new executive order. “Americans are legally guaranteed fair elections with impartial referees — not a system where Donald Trump can dictate campaign rules he wants from the White House,” Mr. Martin said in a statement that was also signed by the chairs of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.