TREY TRAINOR: It’s Time To Move The FEC Out Of Washington

As a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for the past four and a half years, I have had a front-row seat to the inefficiencies and fiscal excesses that have become all too common within our federal bureaucracy.

One of the most pressing issues is the high cost of maintaining operations in Washington, D.C. For an agency that is supposed to embody transparency in elections and government processes, it is time the FEC leads by example and demonstrates true fiscal responsibility. A solution that I propose is relocating the FEC’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Odessa, Texas. This move would be both a financially sound and logistically feasible step to address taxpayer waste while improving the agency’s efficiency.

Currently, FEC employees receive a locality pay adjustment of 33.26%, simply due to the agency’s location in Washington, D.C. This premium is meant to offset the high cost of living in the D.C. area. While D.C. may be a hub for political activity, it is an expensive place to operate, and this extra pay is an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. Meanwhile, the nature of the FEC’s work has changed dramatically, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, which altered the way government agencies conduct business.

Today, many FEC employees work remotely for most of the week, with only occasional in-person office days. The shift to remote work, although born out of necessity during the pandemic, has proven effective and efficient. As the FEC has adapted, it is now time to reconsider its operational needs in light of modern work practices. Relocating the agency to Odessa would not only cut out the need for costly locality pay but would also significantly lower operational expenses, saving taxpayers millions of dollars annually — funds that could be redirected to more productive uses.