If you had to pick the most broken institution in Washington, which one would you choose?

Would you pick Congress, where lawmakers grind out legislation, even when it's got zero chance of passing?

Maybe you'd pick the courts, which after years of conservative activism have gotten philosophically

warped.

If I had to pick, I'd go way smaller. I'd pick the FEC. That's where Ellen Weintraub works.

I was reading up on the history of your workplace, the Federal Election Commission.

And as I did that, I kept seeing these two words come up, notoriously dysfunctional.

You're laughing.

Yes.

But you've worked there for 20 years.

Well, not quite.

Not quite.

Do you work at a notoriously dysfunctional workplace?

Well, I suppose it is.

I mean, if enough people say it, it must be true, right?

That's the nature of being notorious.

Do you say it's true?

I wouldn't say notoriously.

I would say unfortunately.

Ellen's a commissioner at the FEC, part of a six-person leadership team that is purposely split down the middle.

Three Republicans, three Democrats. Ellen's a Democrat, by the way.

The idea here is that by keeping the commission in a three-three split and requiring four votes to get anything done, nonpartisan decision-making will follow.

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