Dara Lindenbaum

Dara Lindenbaum
Chair of the Federal Election Commission
In office January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Allen Dickerson
Succeeded by	Sean J. Cooksey
Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office August 2, 2022
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Steven T. Walther
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Education	Northeastern University (BA) George Washington University (JD)

Dara Lindenbaum is an American election lawyer serving as a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). She was nominated in January 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in May 2022.

Education

Lindenbaum earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Northeastern University and a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in 2011.[1]

Career

During the Iraq War, Lindenbaum was an activist with Code Pink.[2] After graduating from law school, she worked as associate counsel in the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She was also a development assistant at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.[3][4][5] During the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, Lindenbaum worked as general counsel for Stacey Abrams's campaign.[6] In 2020, Lindenbaum was legal counsel for Fair Fight Action.[7] Prior to her governmental service Lindenbaum was a partner at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C.[8]

FEC Nomination

On January 21, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Lindenbaum to be a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission.[9] Hearings were held before the Senate Rules Committee on the nomination on April 6, 2022. The committee favorably reported the nomination on May 3, 2022.[10] She was confirmed by the full Senate on May 24, 2022 by a vote of 54–38, with 6 Republicans supporting her confirmation.[11] She was sworn in on August 2, 2022.[12] She was elected as FEC Chair for 2023.[13]

References

1. "President Biden Announces 2 Key Nominees". The White House. 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
2. "Anti-War Protesters March Against Iraq Policy". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
3. "Biden nominates Democrat Lindenbaum for Federal Election Commission". news.yahoo.com. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
4. "Biden nominates Democrat Lindenbaum for Federal Election Commission". The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO. Reuters. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
5. Mordock, Jeff. "Biden looks to reshape elections commission with nominee". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
6. ""I Am the Crazy Person Who Went To Law School To Do Exactly This"". www.law.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
7. Galloway, Jim; Bluestein, Greg; Mitchell, Tia; Murphy, Patricia. "The Jolt: On Tuesday, an offer of hot chocolate to a shivering voter could become a crime". Political Insider (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Retrieved 2022-01-21.
8. "Dara Lindenbaum". FEC.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
9. "President Biden Announces 2 Key Nominees". The White House. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
10. "PN1758 — Dara Lindenbaum — Federal Election Commission 117th Congress (2021-2022)". US Congress. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
11. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Dara Lindenbaum, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission)". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate. May 24, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
12. "Dara Lindenbaum sworn in as Commissioner".
13. "Dara Lindenbaum elected Chair, Sean J. Cooksey elected Vice Chair for 2023". FEC.gov. 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2024-01-08.