President Trump has dismantled the U.S. Election Assistance Commission by removing all remaining members of the independent federal agency devoted to election administration, drawing accusations that he is attempting to manipulate the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump fired the two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, by email on Thursday, effective immediately. The sole remaining Republican commissioner, Christy McCormick, was pushed to resign rather than fired outright. A fourth seat had already been vacant since Republican Donald Palmer departed for the Heritage Foundation earlier this year. With no commissioners remaining, the agency cannot vote to take any formal action.
The White House justified the removals by citing the president's authority to remove officials and referenced a recent Supreme Court ruling that expanded his power to fire heads of independent agencies. However, election law scholars say the ruling's application to bipartisan bodies like the EAC remains untested, since Congress deliberately structured the commission around an equal partisan split.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the dismissals a "brazen attempt" to seize control of elections. "Firing every remaining member of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission months before the midterms is a brazen attempt to seize control of our elections before a single vote is cast," Schumer wrote on social media. He noted that the agency certifies voting systems and helps election officials run secure elections.
Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, accused Trump of rigging the election because he fears voters will reject his policies. "Donald Trump knows that in November voters will reject everything he stands for," Johnson said, pledging that the organization would work to send people to the polls.
The Election Assistance Commission distributes federal election security grants, maintains the national mail voter registration form, certifies voting machines against federal standards, and advises state and local officials. Created following the disputed 2000 election, it does not run elections itself but serves as a resource for cash-strapped states.
With the commission paralyzed, it cannot update voting standards or the federal registration form. This potentially freezes changes the administration has pushed for, including a citizenship documentation requirement that courts have already partially blocked.
Benjamin Hovland, one of the fired commissioners, warned that losing the agency risked administrative mistakes during the midterms. Democratic secretaries of state criticized the firings as irresponsible. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said the EAC plays a critical role supporting state and local election officials, and the dismissals would make it harder for election administrators to do their work.
Replacements would require Senate confirmation, a process that could extend well past the midterm elections.