Trump removes final members of US Election Assistance Commission ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump has removed the last remaining members of the US Election Assistance Commission, leaving the federal election body without sitting commissioners months before November's midterm elections. The White House confirmed the move on Friday, after two Democratic appointees were fired by email and the lone remaining Republican commissioner resigned. The commission is now vacant at a time when Trump is pressing for broader changes to voting rules.

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The Election Assistance Commission, often referred to as the EAC, is a bipartisan federal body created by Congress in 2002 to support state and local election officials. Its responsibilities include issuing non-binding election guidelines, certifying voting systems and maintaining the national mail voter registration form. It normally has four commissioners, with the law requiring an even split between Democrats and Republicans.

According to the supplied material, Republican appointee Donald Palmer had already left in April, while Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland were dismissed on Thursday and Christy McCormick resigned. The White House said the president reserves the right to remove individuals who are not fully aligned with the task of securing elections. It also said the administration has been working with agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse ahead of the midterms.

The dismissals leave the commission unable to function as designed, and they come as the federal body had already declined to implement part of Trump's March 2025 executive order seeking proof of citizenship on the national mail voter registration form. The move matters because the EAC was created after the disputed 2000 presidential election to help restore confidence in election administration. While the commission does not run elections itself, it plays a supporting role in standards, certification and guidance that state and local officials use.

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The vacancy also raises questions about how the administration intends to influence election policy while the Constitution assigns election administration primarily to the states. The issue has already entered the courts. A federal judge later blocked the proof-of-citizenship requirement, ruling that the president had exceeded his authority, and Trump has appealed that decision.

The commission's earlier refusal to carry out part of the executive order showed the limits of federal power over election procedures. With no commissioners now in place, the body that was meant to provide bipartisan support for election officials is effectively shut down. What happens next is unclear, including whether new commissioners will be nominated or whether the administration will seek other ways to shape election administration before November.

The immediate effect is that the EAC cannot carry out its normal work at a critical point in the election cycle. The broader question is how the vacancy will affect confidence in federal election support and the legal fight over voting rules in the months ahead.

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