The FEC has been effectively shut down since December because the Senate refused to confirm appointees to the Commission, leaving it short of the quorum necessary to do business. The heart of the dispute was the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky, who had previously worked in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

I celebrated the effective shuttering of the Commission because, well, I like freedom, and the FEC isn’t exactly a bastion of it. Indeed, the prospect of going through a Presidential election without a functioning FEC, matching funds or silly advisory opinions positively filled me with glee.

Unfortunately, true to form, the White House caved yesterday, aided and abetted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (You can read his statement below the fold.) Under an agree struck with Senate Democrats, the Senate will confirm three nominees and be allowed to defeat von Spakovsky separately.

So, in a few weeks, the FEC will be back up and running. What a total bummer.

UPDATE: Bob Bauer, one of the top election law specialists in either party (and is also Counsel to Senator Obama’s campaign) weighs in, accusing the White House of trying to shape the Commission in a way that benefits Senator McCain. Both the timing and the decision not to reappoint Commissioner Mason support Bauer’s argument. Professor Hasen also weighs in with similar thoughts. It’s hard to argue with either point of view.

So now, two of my favorite saw-horses have come together: Disappointment that the FEC is back in business and even more evidence that Senator McCain’s reformer persona is nothing but a disingenuous act by a fundamentally dishonest politician.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Tuesday regarding the President’s intent to nominate three new members of the Federal Election Commission, reaching a compromise that can lead to a ‘fully functioning, bipartisan FEC’:

“This compromise is a blueprint for a fully functioning, bipartisan FEC—a goal we all share—and an end to the bottleneck created by the Democrats’ opposition to one well-qualified nominee.

“The White House accommodated Sen. Reid’s request for the retention of Commissioner Weintraub and by providing nominees for a full six-member commission.

“Similarly, the Majority Leader’s commitment to a ’speedy review’ of the outstanding Republican nominees the White House submitted means that we can soon have a quorum at the FEC.

“The Senate should quickly consider these nominees and schedule confirmation votes so that we can avoid any further delay in the FEC’s action.”