On May 1, the Federal Election Commission lost its ability to enforce and regulate federal campaign finance laws.

The agency needs a minimum of four commissioners to execute its high-level responsibilities, but now, it only has three. This is a big deal for federal politics and elections — but not an unprecedented situation.

FEC expert Dave Levinthal breaks down everything you should know about the commission's latest de facto shutdown.

By Indy Scholtens

As the Trump administration is ramping up detentions and deportations in an effort to reach its goal of removing 1 million immigrants by the end of this year, new air carriers have signed contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to carry out deportation flights. The transportation of immigrants to ICE detention centers and countries that have agreed to accept immigrants is a billion-dollar business.

Deportation flights and the air carriers carrying out those flights have been around for decades. ICE’s current prime air charter contractor is CSI Aviation, which in turn subcontracts the flights to smaller carriers. It’s a lucrative business, according to industry executives: The combination of consistent work, with carriers guaranteed payment for a minimum level of monthly flying and penalties for canceled flights, is appealing to air carriers. 

According to data from Witness at the Border, a migrant advocacy group, there have been more than 350 deportation flights since the start of 2025. Initially the Trump administration used military aircraft to carry out the flights, but after reporting showed the military flights were expensive and inefficient, they were stopped in early March. 

The flights are departing from Mesa, Arizona; San Antonio, Texas; Alexandria, Louisiana; Harlingen, Texas; and Miami. Countries that have accepted migrants include Guatemala, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, India, Mexico, Libya, Panama and Venezuela. Immigrants have also been sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba and the Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador. 

What’s driving small colleges to hire lobbyists for the first time (Politico)

In taking up ‘dark money’ disclosure law, AZ Supreme Court could reshape free speech standards (Arizona Mirror)

New Book Examines Seattle Democracy Voucher Program’s Success (Sludge)

Cuomo Loses $622,000 Over Concerns of Improper Super PAC Coordination (The New York Times)

Pharma PAC That Donated to Trump Breaks With Him Over Executive Order (Newsweek)

PhRMA donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund but did not give to his campaign, according to OpenSecrets. It is registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as a "Trade Association PAC."

Trump administration in talks with Qatar over plane gift (The Washington Post)

Bondi was previously registered to lobby on behalf of the Qatari government for several years, including during the first Trump administration, according to the Open Secrets database.  

From a Kennedy Center makeover to crypto sweepstakes: How Trump is rewiring Washington access  (CNN)

Ballard Partners pulled in more than $13.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, ranking fourth among all lobbying firms, according to Senate disclosures analyzed by the influence tracking organization OpenSecrets, far outpacing its 2024 revenue. 

Rep. Jared Golden says ‘dark money’ group is partly why he won’t hold town halls (Portland Press Herald)

According to data from election spending tracker OpenSecrets, Indivisible’s 501(c)(4) donated $2.5 million to its affiliated political action committee, Indivisible Action, which spent money on advertising, campaigning for Democratic candidates and employee salaries. 

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