Ellen L. Weintraub has served as a commissioner on the United States Federal Election Commission since 2002 and has chaired the Commission three times.
During her tenure, Commissioner Weintraub has served as a consistent voice for meaningful campaign-finance law enforcement and robust disclosure. She believes that strong and fair regulation of money in politics is important to prevent corruption and maintain the faith of the American people in their democracy. Commissioner Weintraub is proud to have been part of the group of commissioners who approved the highest civil penalties in the agency’s history and has worked across the aisle to issue rules and opinions to provide guidance to those who engage in politics. She has participated in election-observation missions around the world and in the Commission’s public outreach efforts around the country.
Commissioner Weintraub has consistently sounded the alarm about the risk of foreign influence in U.S. elections. She has shined a spotlight on Russia’s direct attack on the 2016 Presidential election as well as more subtle attacks, such as the use of corporate and “dark-money” spending to serve as a vehicle for foreign influence in our elections. Commissioner Weintraub has also focused on the risk that unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud may result in efforts that deter citizens from voting.
Prior to her appointment to the FEC, Commissioner Weintraub was Of Counsel to the Political Law Group of Perkins Coie LLP and served as Counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives (the House ethics committee), where she rewrote the House Ethics Manual and often led the Committee’s public education and compliance initiatives. She is a native New Yorker with degrees from Yale College and Harvard Law School.
Commissioner Weintraub (@EllenLWeintraub) has published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and leading law reviews and is a frequent speaker on news shows and at conferences at home and abroad.