Campaign

RNC members seek tighter money controls

by Reid Wilson - 04/29/09 5:29 PM ET

Prominent members of the Republican National Committee are seeking to extend new financial controls over the behemoth organization in a move some see as a way to limit new chairman Michael Steele’s spending power.

A resolution being circulated in advance of a May 20 meeting of RNC members in Washington would require Steele to run any expenditures of more than $100,000 past the RNC executive committee or the body’s treasurer.

{mosads}Further, the resolution calls for the establishment of a comptroller or chief financial officer for the national GOP, a position that would report directly to the RNC finance committee.

And any expenditures over that amount would require competitive bids, though the treasurer can waive that provision. And all loans would require approval of the executive committee, according to the resolution.

The measure, which has met fierce resistance from Steele and his allies on the RNC, is being pushed by several members who did not back Steele during the January election for RNC chairman. David Norcross, New Jersey’s national committeeman and a former RNC general counsel, and Randy Pullen, the body’s current treasurer, are pitching the resolution.

The resolution comes after the RNC let former CFO Jay Banning go in late March. Banning, who had been with the committee for more than 30 years and who handled the RNC’s complex financial picture, did not give a reason for his resignation.

Now, Norcross and others backing the resolution say creating a comptroller would establish financial controls needed for an organization with such a massive budget.

“All we’re doing is looking for some modern, up-to-date financial standards and information flow,” Norcross said. “It’s protection for everybody.”

In an e-mail to national committee members, Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus characterized the move as a way to undercut Steele’s authority. Priebus, one of Steele’s closest allies on the committee, urged fellow Republicans to vote against the measure.

2024 Election Coverage

Priebus argued the resolution would effectively bog the national committee’s operations down, creating extra layers of bureaucracy for times when the organization needs to be agile and move quickly.

“Their resistance and over-the-top emails from guys like [Priebus] are making it into the third world war,” Norcross said, insisting that the resolution is not intended to harm Steele.

An RNC spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.