Trump Removes Election Assistance Commission Members Ahead of the Midterms

With the midterm elections just months away, President Trump has moved to remove the remaining members of the Trump Election Assistance Commission, the bipartisan federal body responsible for helping oversee how American elections are run. The decision sparked immediate backlash from Democrats and voting rights advocates, who warn that it undermines a key safeguard of the nation’s democratic process.

What Happened

Word of the dismissals spread on Thursday when an association of state election officials alerted its members. In defending the action, a White House official said the president reserves the right to remove individuals who may not be fully aligned with the mission of securing America’s elections and ensuring that every legal vote is counted. The official pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision as the legal basis for the move.

That ruling, known as the Slaughter case, was handed down late last month. In it, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a president has greater latitude to remove members of independent federal agencies, a decision the White House now cites as giving Trump the authority to act.

Part of a Broader Pattern

The shake-up at the Election Assistance Commission comes amid a series of unprecedented efforts by Trump to shape how elections are conducted.

One notable example is a 2025 executive order in which Trump directed the EAC to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form the agency maintains. However, judges have blocked the main provisions of that order, ruling that they exceed the constitutional authority of a president.

What the EAC Actually Does

The Election Assistance Commission was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, often referred to as HAVA. Though it tends to operate out of the public spotlight, the agency plays an important role. Its responsibilities include:

• Certifying voting systems used across the country.
• Developing guidelines for state and local election administration.

By design, the commission is meant to be balanced. Its four commissioners are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and HAVA specifies that no more than two commissioners may belong to the same political party.

Who Was Removed

The commission had already been operating with fewer members before this latest move. A Republican commissioner, Don Palmer, had departed earlier in the year. That left two Democratic members, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, along with one Republican, Christy McCormick.

Trump dismissed both Hicks and Hovland, while McCormick resigned from her position. Notably, all three had originally been confirmed by the Senate unanimously. A spokesperson for the EAC did not respond to a request for comment.

Sharp Criticism From Democrats

The removals drew swift condemnation from leading Democrats. California Sen. Alex Padilla and New York Rep. Joe Morelle, the ranking Democrats on committees overseeing elections, issued a joint statement accusing Trump of trying to dismantle yet another independent guardrail of democracy meant to keep elections fair and secure.

They argued that purging commissioners just months before the midterms, along with weakening support for state and local election officials, was a deliberate effort to politicize elections and open the door to unlawful and dangerous interference.

Voting Rights Groups Sound the Alarm

Advocacy organizations echoed those concerns. Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice, which supports expanded voting access, called the dismissals deeply troubling given Trump’s ongoing attempts to interfere in elections.

Waldman emphasized that Congress deliberately structured the commission as a bipartisan agency to help states run free, fair, and secure elections. He warned that the removals leave the agency without leadership and unable to carry out its core responsibilities.

A More Measured but Still Critical View

Not every reaction framed the situation the same way, though concern remained. Matt Weil, vice president of governance at the Bipartisan Policy Center, acknowledged that the EAC has spent much of its existence without a quorum. Even so, he described Trump’s dismissals as unprecedented and called them a significant loss for one of the few federal institutions explicitly built around bipartisan governance.

The Bottom Line

The move to reshape the Trump Election Assistance Commission has intensified an already heated debate over the president’s influence on the electoral system. With the midterms approaching, the agency now stands without leadership at a critical moment, and its ability to fulfill its mandated duties is in question. Supporters of the action cite expanded presidential authority under a recent Supreme Court ruling, while critics see it as another step toward politicizing the machinery of American elections. As legal and political battles continue, the future of the nation’s only dedicated federal election-support agency remains uncertain.