FEC makes it easier for candidates to ask for Super PAC donations

A new advisory opinion from the Federal Elections Commission will make it easier for candidates to ask people to give money to super PACs that are taking an increasingly important role in political spending.

The opinion came after two key PACs with ties to congressional Democrats, the House Majority PAC and the Senate Majority PAC, made their pitch to the FEC, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the story.

{mosads}The changes allow candidates to ask people to donate to super PACs as long as they are meeting in small groups — as small as three people, according to the Post. This means a candidate could ask a multimillionaire donor to donate to a super PAC with just one other person, such as a representative from the PAC, in the room.

Super PACs are playing a huge role in keeping candidates in the race for the White House, though their power to actually elevate a candidate to victory can be debated.

The Right to Rise super PAC backing Jeb Bush for president raised $100 million with the help of Bush, yet the former Florida governor is lagging in polls.

Still, the latest changes authorized by the FEC are sure to bring criticism from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other critics of the campaign finance system that there is no real wall between candidates and the powerful super PACs backing their campaigns.

The advisory opinion offered by the FEC in November also allows a campaign’s aides to ask for large donations to a super PAC, as long as they make it clear they are not making the request on the orders of the candidate for which they work.

The Senate Majority PAC has close ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and is focused on winning back the Senate majority for Democrats in 2016. Democrats have high hopes for winning back the majority given a favorable election map in which a number of Republican incumbents face tough challenges in states won by President Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

The House Majority PAC is focused on helping Democrats win seats in the House.