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Sean J. Cooksey

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Sean Cooksey
Chairman of the Federal Election Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2024
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDara Lindenbaum
Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 14, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byLee E. Goodman
Personal details
Born
Sean Joseph Cooksey
Political partyRepublican
EducationTruman State University (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)

Sean Joseph Cooksey[1] is a Commissioner and the current Chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Education

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Cooksey received his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Truman State University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 2014,[2] where he graduated with High Honors and Order of the Coif, and served as a Managing Editor on the University of Chicago Law Review.[3][4]

Career

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Cooksey served as a law clerk for Judge Jerry Edwin Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then worked as a litigation associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C. where his practice focused on appeals and constitutional law. He later served as Deputy Chief Counsel for Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. He then served as General Counsel to Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. He advised the Senator on issues including constitutional law, judicial nominations, election law, federal criminal law, and ethics compliance, and served as the Senator's lead staffer on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.[3]

Federal Election Commission

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On October 28, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Cooksey to serve as a Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission.[3] On October 30, 2020, his nomination was sent to the Senate.[5] He was nominated to the vacancy created by the retirement of Lee E. Goodman on February 16, 2018. On December 9, 2020, he was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 50–46.[6]

He was sworn in on December 14, 2020,[7][8] making him the youngest commissioner in FEC history.[9] In December 2022, Dara Lindenbaum was elected Chair of the Federal Election Commission, and Sean J. Cooksey was elected Vice Chairman for 2023.[10] He was later elected Chairman for 2024.[11]

As a Commissioner, Cooksey has called for the repeal of election regulations.[12] He has also criticized the agency’s failure to comply with requests under the Freedom of Information Act,[13] leading to multiple court settlements.[14]

Cooksey has advocated for expanding the Commission’s regulatory exemption for press and media activities. In Commission statements, Cooksey argued against regulating media companies on the internet.[15] He has also argued against regulating media-hosted candidate debates,[16] media entities owned by federal candidates,[17] or the media appearances of candidates.[18]

Cooksey has also opposed regulation of political speech and activities on the internet, and he has defended the Federal Election Commission’s regulatory exemption for internet-based political activities. In 2021, he supported broad exemptions for social media companies to host and moderate political speech on their platforms regardless of political motivation.[19] In 2022, he criticized proposals for broader internet disclaimer regulations by the Federal Election Commission, which the Commission ultimately scaled back.[20]

In testimony before the United States House Committee on House Administration, Cooksey defended the Commission’s agency structure from criticism that it causes deadlock or inefficiency, and he argued that the Commission reaches some kind of bipartisan agreement in 90 percent of enforcement matters.[21]

Personal life

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Cooksey is a Republican. He is a practicing Roman Catholic.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Sean J. Cooksey Lawyer Profile on Martindale.com". www.martindale.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  2. ^ Commission, Federal Election (2023-12-18). "Sean J. Cooksey, '14, Elected Chairman of the Federal Election Commission | University of Chicago Law School". www.law.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Individuals to Key Administration Posts" White House, October 28, 2020 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Sean J. Cooksey Commissioner Profile on FEC.gov". www.fec.gov. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  5. ^ "Two Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, October 30, 2020
  6. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Sean J. Cooksey, of Missouri, to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission)" United States Senate, December 9, 2020
  7. ^ "Week of December 14-18, 2020". FEC.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  8. ^ "Shana Broussard, Sean Cooksey, Allen Dickerson sworn in as Commissioners" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: Federal Election Commission. December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  9. ^ "Sean Cooksey, '14: Protecting Free Expression and Serving the Public | University of Chicago Law School". www.law.uchicago.edu. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  10. ^ "Dara Lindenbaum elected Chair, Sean J. Cooksey elected Vice Chair for 2023". FEC.gov. 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  11. ^ "Sean J. Cooksey elected Chairman, Ellen L. Weintraub elected Vice Chair for 2024". Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2021-11-30). "Interpretive Statement of Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey on the regulation of republished campaign materials" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  13. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2022-06-28). "Statement of Chairman Allen Dickerson and Commissioners Sean J. Cooksey and James E. "Trey" Trainor, III Regarding Freedom of Information Act Litigation" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  14. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2022-11-17). "Statement of Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey on the Commission's Settlement and Dismissal of Josh Hawley for Senate v. FEC" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  15. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2022-04-22). "Statement of Reasons of Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey, MUR 7789 (Courier Newsroom)" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  16. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2022-06-28). "Statement of Reasons of Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey, MUR 7835 (WMTW-TV)" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  17. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2023-03-07). "Statement of Reasons of Vice Chairman Sean J. Cooksey and Commissioners Allen J. Dickerson and James E. "Trey" Trainor, III, MURs 7668, 7669 & 7685(Bloomberg News)" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  18. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2024-01-11). "Concurring Statement on Advisory Opinion 2023-10 (Sony Pictures Television)" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  19. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2021-09-13). "Statement of Reasons of Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey, MURs 7821, 7827 & 7868 (Twitter, Inc.)" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  20. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2022-12-01). "Concurring Statement of Commissioner Sean J. Cooksey on the Final Rule for Internet Communication Disclaimers" (PDF). FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  21. ^ Cooksey, Sean (2023-09-20). "Written Testimony of Sean J. Cooksey" (PDF). House.gov.
  22. ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/SeanJCooksey. Retrieved 2023-10-03. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
Legal offices
Preceded by Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission
2020–present 		Incumbent
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