Federal Election Commission v. NRA Political Victory Fund et al. (513 U.S. 88)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 6, 1994 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 513 U.S. 88 · 115 S. Ct. 537
- Decided
- December 6, 1994
- Term
- October Term 1994
- Vote
- 7–1
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari in this case to review a judgment of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holding that the congressionally mandated composition of petitioner Federal Election Commission (FEC), including as it did representatives of the Senate and House as nonvoting members, violated the separation-of-powers principle embodied in the Constitution. 512 U. S. 1218 (1994). We do not reach the merits of the question, however, because we conclude that the FEC is not authorized to petition for cer-tiorari in this Court on its own, and that the effort of the Solicitor General to authorize the FEC’s petition after the time for filing it had expired did not breathe life into it. The Court of Appeals entered judgment in this case on October 22, 1998. 6 F. 3d 821. The FEC, in its own name, filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on January 18, 1994. The FEC neither sought nor obtained the authorization of the Solicitor General before filing its petition. By order dated March 21, 1994, 510 U. S. 1190, we invited the United States to file a brief addressing the question “[wjhether the [FEC] has statutory authority to represent itself in this case in this Court.” The United States filed a brief on May 27, 1994, contending that the FEC lacks such statutory authority. The United States stated, however,…
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