PERSON: Ellen Weintraub

U.S. Federal Election Commission

Commissioner & Chair

Ellen L. Weintraub is an American attorney who has served as Commissioner (since December 9, 2002) and Chair (most recently since January 1, 2025) of the Federal Election Commission. On February 6, 2025, President Donald Trump sent Weintraub a letter purporting to dismiss her from the Commission; Weintraub has described this dismissal as illegal and asserted her intent to remain in office until a successor is confirmed by the United States Senate.

Ellen Weintraub began her career in private practice as a litigator with the New York firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Weintraub was then counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Ethics Committee), where she advised members on investigations. She focused on implementing the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (Pub. L. 101–194) and subsequent changes to the House Code of Official Conduct. She also served as editor in chief of the House Ethics Manual and as a principal contributor to the Senate Ethics Manual. Weintraub subsequently returned to private practice as counsel at Perkins Coie LLP, where she was a member of its Political Law Group. There, she counseled clients on federal and state campaign finance laws, political ethics, nonprofit law, and lobbying regulation. During the election contest arising out of the 1996 election of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Weintraub served on the legal team that advised the Senate Rules Committee.

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