The federal agency in charge of policing the torrent of political spending during the upcoming presidential primaries will, for all practical purposes, shut its doors on New Year's Eve.
Congress remains locked in a standoff over the confirmation of President Bush's nominees to the panel
the FEC will enter 2008 with just two of six members -- short of the four votes needed for the commission to take any official action.
Seven presidential candidates have applied to receive public matching funds
The national political parties each anticipate an infusion of about $1 million
a range of vexing campaign finance questions that hang in limbo
The FEC is composed of three appointees from each party, all nominated by the president
"The Democrats have picked their nominees, and we've picked ours,"
"the Democrats trying to veto one of our nominees. That isn't going to happen. They're all four going to go together, or none of them will be approved."
clipped from: www.washingtonpost.com