Allen Dickerson, the Federal Election Commission, and Moby Dick

The Federal Election Commission is a unique agency.  It polices politics but must be sensitive to constitutional limits.  It is supposed to have six bipartisan commissioners and requires four votes for action, but sometimes it deadlocks 3-3.  For almost two years it was shorthanded even the necessary four votes until December of 2021 when the Senate confirmed three new members. Allen Dickerson was one of those three new commissioners, and now he is Chair for the 2022 election year.  Learn more about Chair Dickerson’s journey to the FEC and what it is like working there during a COVID lockdown.  He is open about difficulties in regulating political campaigns, how the agency operates remotely, and some of the legal issues the FEC is facing as well as what might lie ahead.  He also tells us what prompted him to re-read the old classic, Moby Dick.

For more biographical information on Allen Dickerson, please visit here.