Replace the broken Federal Election Commission with an effective watchdog agency to ensure campaigns and special interests follow the law.
Replace the Federal Election Commission with a more effective campaign-finance watchdog agency.
Occurrences
Evidence
The reposted Schatz email lists: "Replace the broken Federal Election Commission with an effective watchdog agency" as item 5.
Congress.gov says S.6 would amend FECA to replace the FEC with the Federal Election Administration; latest action was referral to committee.
Congress.gov lists Sen. Schatz as an original cosponsor of S.949; the bill included the Restoring Integrity to America's Elections Act.
The Senate vote result was cloture on the motion to proceed rejected; Schatz (D-HI) voted Yea.
The FEC states it is the independent regulatory agency administering and enforcing federal campaign finance law.
The U.S. Code page says laws in effect on May 21, 2026 still establish the Federal Election Commission.
Assessments
The promised outcome was to replace the Federal Election Commission with a stronger campaign-finance watchdog. Schatz supported legislation directly matching that goal, including S.6 in 2016, and later backed broader democracy and campaign-finance reform packages, but those efforts did not become law. Federal law still establishes the FEC, and the FEC still operates as the federal campaign-finance enforcement agency. Because there was a serious legislative effort but no enacted replacement, the promise was not delivered, with effort credit.