Can Kamala Harris take over Biden’s $96 million war chest? Expect a fight.

Simone Del Rosario: The money is pouring in for the Democrats since President Joe Biden announced he was bowing out of the race. 

The democratic political action committee ActBlue fundraised more than $50 million in the first day after Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place on the ticket.

But as new money floods in, questions hang over who gets the existing Biden-Harris war chest worth around $96 million. 

The campaign is quickly moving forward as if those are now Harris’ funds. But there’s little doubt Republicans are planning to challenge this with the Federal Election Commission and in court.

Here’s Trump-appointed FEC chair Sean Cooksey talking to NPR Monday morning. 

Sean Cooksey: I think there’s a number of different avenues that I could expect different parties to challenge this attempted transer, this attempted change to the presidential committee. There’s a process in which private parties can file complaints with the Federal Election Commission, there’s also a process in which they can prospectively ask for advisory opinions. One of those problems with those processes is they can take a lot time and we don’t have a lot of time up until the election. 

Simone Del Rosario: Cooksey said the situation is complicated and unprecedented, but a colleague of his doesn’t see it that way. Biden-appointed FEC commissioner Dara Lindenbaum told the New York Times she doesn’t think it’s an open question because Harris’ name is already on the campaign committee registration form. 

“It’s very clear,” she said. “If Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account.” 

So two different views from two people with the same job. That’s not clear at all. And what happens to the money if Kamala Harris is not the nominee? 

Hopefully Jerry Goldfeder can help us sort through it, he’s senior counsel at Cozen O’Connor law firm and Director of Fordham Law School voting rights and democracy project.

And let’s start there, sir, if Vice President Harris is indeed the nominee, is this complicated issue or no question at all, where do you stand?

Jerry Goldfeder: It’s relatively simple. She was a principal the Biden Harris Campaign Committee, the authorized committee of the campaign for the presidential and vice presidential candidacies of those people, and she continues to be a principal of the new committee, which is Harris for President. So the funds get transferred quite easily.

Simone Del Rosario: Do you think that that ease that you’re talking about is part of the reason why Democrats are really coalescing behind her is that these funds could easily be transferred to her campaign, whereas someone else might have a more difficult time fundraising.

Jerry Goldfeder: Well, it would be a factor if it couldn’t be transferred, but frankly, the tremendous support for her is based upon her tremendous record as vice president and who she is as a candidate and as a person. People know her. People in the Democratic Party know her. People really respect her. People really like her. She’s done her work among the Democrats throughout the country, and I think there’s a strong feeling that she would make a great president, and people, as I say, really respect her and like her. Well,

Simone Del Rosario: Although it’s not a foregone conclusion, it really does seem like there’s not a lot of significant challenges to Harris being the nominee at this point, but let’s put that aside for a second. If the nominee ends up being someone other than Harris, whose name is on that campaign committee registration form, how does the funding work? From there, what happens to this $96 million?

Jerry Goldfeder: Well, that’s extremely hypothetical question, because I think it’s pretty clear she will be the nominee. But let’s go with your hypothetical for a moment if, in fact, it’s another candidate who is the who’s the nominee. All the money from Biden Harris could be transferred to the party. It could be transferred to an independent expenditure organization. It can be used on behalf of the nominee, indirectly, but legally.

Simone Del Rosario: Is there any chance that these funds would have to be refunded in any kind of way? No, for our viewers, what funds specifically are in question here, there’s a, you know, campaign finance is such a thorny issue for people who aren’t steeped in it every single day, right?

Jerry Goldfeder: Most normal people don’t know, and don’t want to know any of the ins and outs of campaign finance law. Look, there’s a committee. There’s that when somebody runs for election or for reelection, there’s an authorized Campaign Committee, and that committee gathers monies in order to spend for its campaign so people contribute to the Biden Harris campaign, to the campaign committee. That’s what we’re talking about here. And the Biden Harris Campaign Committee, which has millions of dollars, can transfer that to the Harris Campaign Committee. It’s actually not really even a transfer, because it’s basically the same committee. It’s just renamed.

Simone Del Rosario: Although we do expect these challenges to move forward, at least in some point, the FEC is going to have to be facing all sorts of challenges, or they expect to. What does that process look like when there’s only months to go before the election? 

Jerry Goldfeder: the Federal Election Commission is not known for acting swiftly, and in this case, I think that there’ll be some challenges by Republicans, just for the sake of it. Some of them will be heartfelt and they really believe it, and some of them will just be just to try to bollocks up, the works, but the FEC is not going to take any action that’s going to interfere with Kamala Harris and her new running mate from using the funds that’s already that have already been raised. And needless to say, the new funds too.

Simone Del Rosario: what about the courts? Could they tie up this money and prevent her from using these funds?

Jerry Goldfeder: It’s hard to believe that something like that is going to happen in this campaign. I think that that’s just the Republicans trying to raise an issue that is pretty bogus.

Simone Del Rosario: All right. Jerry Goldfeder, Senior Counsel at Cozen O’Connor law firm, Director of Fordham Law School voting rights and democracy project. Thank you so much for your insight today.

Jerry Goldfeder: Thank you.