“I think it’s really complicated, is the short answer,” Sean Cooksey, the Trump-appointed chair of the FEC, told “Morning Edition” on NPR. “What he’s attempting to do is to give his entire committee, the cash and all the assets, over to another person.”
However, campaign finance lawyers previously told The Hill that Harris would be able to access the funds if she becomes the nominee. Democrats have started to coalesce behind Harris, but Cooksey has suggested it would be challenged in the agency and at the courts.
Biden shook up the 2024 presidential race Sunday when he dropped out amid concerns about his age and mental acuity. He quickly endorsed Harris to become the party’s new standard-bearer.
The Biden campaign had just under $96 million in cash on hand as of June 30, according to its most recent report to the FEC, and filed paperwork to change its name from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President” within hours of the president’s decision.
Even before the campaign filed to change its name, Harris was listed as a candidate alongside Biden on its paperwork with the FEC.
Democratic Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum, who chaired the commission last year, pushed back on the suggestion that Harris would not be able to access those funds.
“It’s quite clear, Vice President Harris can continue using the campaign committee and its funds,” Lindenbaum told The Hill.
The Hill’s Taylor Giorno has more here.
