President Donald Trump fired all three remaining commissioners of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Thursday, dismantling the only federal agency devoted solely to election administration just four months before the 2026 midterm elections.
The two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, were notified by email that their positions were terminated effective immediately, according to Votebeat. The message, signed by Morgan DeWitt Snow, deputy director of presidential personnel, stated: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately.” Republican Christy McCormick was allowed to resign, according to three sources within the agency. With the fourth commissioner, Republican Donald Palmer, having departed earlier this year to join the Heritage Foundation, the commission now has no sitting members and cannot take official action.
The firings come less than two weeks after the Supreme Court granted the president broad power to remove leaders of independent agencies. In Trump v. Slaughter, decided June 29, the Court ruled 6-3 that Congress may not restrict the president’s ability to fire members of independent agencies, overturning nearly 90 years of precedent that had insulated bipartisan federal commissions from direct White House control.
The Election Assistance Commission was created by Congress in 2002 after the contested 2000 presidential election. The agency’s role is mostly supportive: distributing federal election funds to states, maintaining the national mail voter registration form, testing and certifying voting systems, and offering guidance to state and local election officials. The EAC does not run elections or direct local officials on how to conduct them.
A White House official defended the firings, stating that the president “reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted.” The official added that the administration has been working “across all agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse” and to strengthen election infrastructure ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Election law expert Rick Hasen of UCLA flagged legal uncertainty surrounding the action. “It’s an open question about the EAC and the Federal Election Commission,” Hasen said, according to Votebeat. “The question has not been tested as to whether political entities created with bipartisan balance might be subject to another exception” to the Supreme Court’s new removal-power doctrine. If any fired EAC commissioners challenge their removals in court, the case could become the first direct test of whether the Court’s ruling extends to federal election agencies structured around bipartisan balance.
The immediate practical effect is clear: the EAC cannot act. The agency has been without a quorum before—for years, vacancies rendered it unable to perform major parts of its work, including updating voting-system guidance. That gridlock ended only after the Senate confirmed new commissioners in 2019. Now, with the 2026 election cycle underway, the agency is again frozen, unable to perform routine business or any attempt by the Trump administration to alter the federal voter registration form or voting-system standards before the midterms.
Trump cannot simply install replacement EAC commissioners on his own. Under the Help America Vote Act, commissioners must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, with no more than two from the same party. The statute also says the president is supposed to consider recommendations from Senate and House majority and minority leaders when nominating new commissioners—a practice that in the past has ensured both parties work with the administration to identify acceptable nominees.
Sources
- Votebeat — Trump’s firing of all three remaining EAC commissioners, notification method, McCormick’s resignation, Palmer’s departure, the EAC’s role and functions, White House defense, and Hasen’s legal analysis
- The Washington Post — Trump’s dismantling of the bipartisan elections board, timing relative to Supreme Court decision, and congressional creation of the EAC
- NPR — Trump’s removal of EAC commissioners and timing relative to the midterms
- ProPublica — Names of the fired Democratic commissioners (Hovland and Hicks)
- Supreme Court and legal sources — Trump v. Slaughter decision date (June 29, 2026), 6-3 vote, and overturning of 91-year-old precedent on removal power
