US Domestic — 2026-07-10

Trump Fires Last Members of Election Assistance Commission Months Before Midterms

BLUFGutting the EAC's entire commission sixteen months before midterms strips election administrators of their federal certification and guidance backstop during a period when states are already finalizing voting systems.

President Trump on Thursday fired the two Democratic members of the Election Assistance Commission, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, via email from the White House presidential personnel office, while Republican Christy McCormick was allowed to resign, according to Votebeat and ProPublica citing sources familiar with the matter 12. The dismissals leave the four-member bipartisan commission, whose fourth seat has been vacant since Republican Donald Palmer departed in April, without any commissioners and unable to take official action 12. The EAC administers the national mail voter registration form and certifies voting-system standards used by many states; Votebeat reported the firings follow a Supreme Court ruling last month expanding presidential removal power over independent agency leaders 1. The Nevada secretary of state and chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, Cisco Aguilar, called the firings "reckless and irresponsible" 23, and the White House told ProPublica the president "reserves the right to remove individuals" not aligned with securing elections 2.

Analysis
Trump's dismissals leave the EAC without quorum to certify voting-system standards or update the federal registration form until the Senate confirms bipartisan replacements, a process that historically has taken years after prior quorum lapses, pushing secretaries of state into the guidance role the agency previously filled. Sourcing rests on a single originating cluster from Votebeat and ProPublica citing unnamed sources, with other outlets relaying rather than independently confirming, and neither the EAC nor the White House has spoken on record with specifics. The firings may instead be a deliberate clearing of the board to install nominees willing to advance citizenship-documentation changes to the registration form that the outgoing commission had not approved. Whether the Supreme Court's recent removal-power ruling survives a legal challenge from an agency Congress structured for partisan balance remains untested, and how quickly Trump moves to nominate acceptable Democrats is unclear from current reporting.

5 sources