A clear constitutional response may be needed, but it might have political repercussions if Vice President Kamala Harris can easily obtain the money raised by US President Joe Biden for their mutual plan.
Democrats appeared to be willing to challenge any changes to the plan account soon after Biden’s statement to withdraw from the race. According to The New York Times, the Republican National Committee is considering potential lawsuits involving the use and exchange of Biden’s plan funds.
However, Dara Lindenbaum, a Democratic appointee and commissioner on the Federal Election Commission ( FEC ), said unequivocally that the money belongs to Harris, as she was listed on the Biden-Harris campaign committee’s registration statement. ” In my view, this is not an empty problem”, Lindenbaum emphasised, adding,” If Kamala Harris is the Democrat political candidate, she gets to use all the money in the account”.
The FEC, a nonpartisan table with six members, had probably handle any legal difficulties to the party’s actions.
Biden himself appeared to confirm the cash ‘ constitutional rights. Following his support of Harris, he shared a blog on the social system X, saying,” And if you’re with us, contribute to her plan below”, linking to the Biden-Harris party’s ActBlue payment page, which read:” Donate to Elect Kamala Harris”.
Also, on Sunday evening, the” Biden for President” campaign committee actually submitted invoices to the FEC to change its name to” Harris for President”. According to the agency’s records, the papers was filed at 4.51 p.
But, Sean Cooksey, the current FEC chair, hinted at ability uncertainty in a mysterious message on X earlier that morning. He posted a part of the national election act, which reads,” If the applicant is not a participant in the general election, all efforts made for the general election may be either returned or refunded to the contributors or redesignated, or reattributed, as appropriate”.
In a short meeting, Cooksey, a Republican appointee, acknowledged that there were “open questions” about the next steps, saying,” This is an extraordinary event, and it should be no amazing this is not an easy legitimate question to fix”.
If Harris does not secure the nomination, the situation will undoubtedly become more intricate. Any remaining funds from the primary account would be available for the Biden-Harris campaign committee to transfer to the Democratic National Committee or even to a super political action committee.
However, the fate of the money in the campaign’s general election account is less certain, as it might need to be returned to the original donors. Additionally, a newly chosen candidate would be required to create a new campaign account from scratch.
