Everything about The National Republican Congressional Committee totally explained
The
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the
Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the
United States House of Representatives.
The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and
Senate formed a "Congressional Committee". It supports the election of Republicans to the House through direct financial contributions to candidates and Republican Party organizations; technical and research assistance to Republican candidates and Party organizations; voter registration, education and turnout programs; and other Party-building activities. It is a registered
527 group, and its current slogan is "Building a Lasting Majority".
The NRCC is always chaired by a Republican member of the House, who may serve up to two consecutive terms. The current chair is Rep.
Tom Cole of
Oklahoma. Recent former chairmen include Rep.
Bill Paxon (1994-98), Rep.
Tom Davis of
Virginia (1998-2002) and
Tom Reynolds (2002-2006), who was seen as Paxon's protege and who represented his former district in
Erie County, New York. It is governed by an Executive Committee of 11 members, which includes the
party's Leader in the House ex-officio, and other members elected by the Republican Conference following a House election.
Fundraising
The NRCC claims to raise most of its money from individuals, as opposed to the high level of contributions from
organized labor toward its counterpart, the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In the years before
soft money was banned, in 2000 and 2002, one-third of the Committee's $210.8 million raised was in soft money donations. However, as the ban was due to come in, in 2001, the Committee successfully invigorated its donor program, raising millions and breaking records.
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Demands for cash from lobbyists, clients, and "award winners"
Especially after the ban, the NRCC's fundraising sources and techniques have been criticized. For the 2004 election cycle, at least two of its top three donors have been Indian tribal clients of
Jack Abramoff. Others include gambling interests (also related to Abramoff).
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On
September 21, 2006 Chairman Tom Reynolds met with lobbyists in
Washington, D.C. to warn them to contribute only to Republicans and not to challengers from the Democratic Party because their donations would be tracked and they'd lose favors among the Republican members of Congress. Similar activities of the
K Street Project occurred when Davis was head of the NRCC; the organization was fined by the
Federal Election Commission for transferring funds between PACs for the same candidates in violation of contribution limits.
Another of those continuing controversial techniques has been approaching small business leaders to inform them that they're to be recognized with a "National Leadership" Award, in return for a financial gift and the use of their names in a list of supporters.
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Ira Flatow and others report being approached in 2007 by the NRCC offering them such awards as "Congressional Order of Merit" (in exchange for adding their name to a list of NRCC members)
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In comparison to other groups, a larger number of donors to the NRCC don't declare an occupation or employer, making connections difficult; this may be due to the nature of its donor pool, which consists of more individuals than groups, according to the
Federal Election Commission.
Automated phone calls
In 2006, just days before the November 7 midterm Congressional elections, there were numerous reports of a series of automated phone calls ("robocalls") being authorized by the NRCC, with the apparent intention to confuse and annoy the supporters of Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives.
In New Hampshire, the state attorney general's office requested that the NRCC end the robocalls, but many individuals in the state continued to report receiving them.
New Hampshire News Article The
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent the NRCC a
cease-and-desist letter. The DCCC letter cited the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation requiring that a prerecorded telephone call must identify the responsible entity at the beginning of the message, and must include the entity's telephone number. Because the NRCC's calls didn't name the NRCC at the beginning and didn't provide a contact phone number, the DCCC charged the NRCC with "a pattern of willful noncompliance with FCC requirements".
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Allegations of embezzlement
On
March 13, 2008 the NRCC stated that its former
treasurer, Chris Ward, had apparently transferred "several hundred thousand dollars" in NRCC funds to "his personal and business bank accounts". Ward had also served as treasurer for 83 Republican committees and has done work for the
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Further Information
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