Trump Removes Last Election Assistance Commission Members
Cover image from talkingpointsmemo.com, which was analyzed for this article
The Trump administration removed the remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission ahead of midterms, sparking concerns over election oversight and independence. Left and center outlets condemned the move as undermining democracy while some right coverage focused on proof-of-citizenship priorities.
PoliticalOS
Friday, July 10, 2026 — Politics
The Election Assistance Commission now has no commissioners after terminations enabled by a recent Supreme Court ruling on removal power. Replacements require Senate confirmation, leaving standards and certification work without leadership until new members are seated. The episode highlights unresolved questions about how election administration will proceed through the midterms.
What outlets missed
Most coverage omitted that the EAC already lacked a quorum after Palmer's April resignation and therefore could not conduct business before the July terminations. The Supreme Court Slaughter decision supplied the direct legal authority for the removals, yet several accounts treated the firings as sudden rather than enabled by that precedent. The White House statement tying the moves to election security received less space than Democratic criticism in four of the five pieces. No outlet examined whether the commission's chronic vacancies and funding shortfalls predated the current administration.
Voters face midterms in November with the federal agency that certifies voting systems and sets national standards now empty of commissioners. The Election Assistance Commission lost its final three members on July 10 when President Trump terminated Democrats Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks and accepted the resignation of Republican Christy McCormick. A fourth Republican, Donald Palmer, had already stepped down in April.
The action followed a late-June 2026 Supreme Court ruling in the Slaughter case that expanded presidential authority to remove heads of independent agencies. The White House cited that decision and stated the president reserves the right to remove officials not aligned with securing elections and counting every legal vote. It added that the administration is working across agencies to safeguard elections from fraud ahead of the midterms.
The commission was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 after the disputed 2000 election. Its duties include accrediting testing labs, certifying voting equipment, maintaining the national mail registration form, and distributing funds to states. Without commissioners the agency cannot make decisions that affect voting procedures.
Democratic leaders reacted sharply. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move a brazen attempt to seize control of elections. Senators Mark Warner and Alex Padilla, along with Representative Joe Morelle, said the firings were illegal and demanded an explanation. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes described the action as irresponsible and dangerous. Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice said the ousters were deeply concerning given prior administration efforts on voting rules.
Trump has pressed states to adopt proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration and has questioned mail voting. A March 2025 executive order directing those changes was blocked by a federal judge. The commission had received a petition on the citizenship issue but had taken no vote before the departures.
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