On Thursday, July 9, President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. The last Republican commissioner, Christy McCormick, resigned the same day. The other Republican seat had been empty since Donald Palmer left in April to join the Heritage Foundation. So, four months before the midterms, the Election Assistance Commission has zero commissioners.
Most Americans have never heard of the EAC. That is a reason to explain it, not a reason to shrug. Here is what it does, what the law allows, and why the timing is a problem even for those of us who think Washington has too much say over elections.
How the Firings Happened
Hicks and Hovland were notified by email. “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. Thank you for your service,” the message read, Votebeat reported. It was signed by a deputy director of presidential personnel. McCormick was allowed to resign, according to agency sources, and she declined to comment.
The White House confirmed the moves, which left the four-member bipartisan commission without a single sitting member, Reuters reported.
What the Election Assistance Commission Actually Does
Congress created the EAC in the Help America Vote Act of 2002, after the 2000 Florida recount. It does not run elections. States and counties do. The EAC has four commissioners, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and no more than two may belong to the same party. Its main jobs are to:
- test and certify voting equipment against voluntary federal standards,
- maintain the National Mail Voter Registration Form,
- send federal election grants to states, about $4.35 billion since 2003, and
- share data and best practices with local election officials.
Under federal law, any action the commission takes needs the approval of at least three members. That works as a quorum rule, Lawfare noted. With no commissioners, staff can keep distributing money that is already approved, but the commission cannot adopt new guidance, start new programs, update the voting system guidelines, or decide appeals on decertified voting systems.
Hovland said it would be “challenging to operate without commissioners or a quorum,” because commissioners at a small agency play a hands-on role. “There is a great team there and they’ll keep doing this work,” he told Votebeat.
The Legal Case for the Election Assistance Commission Firings
The White House pointed to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which upheld the president’s power to remove leaders of independent agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission. “The President, and head of the Executive Branch, 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 White House said.
Whether Slaughter reaches a commission that Congress deliberately built to be bipartisan is an open question no court has answered. The commissioners had no statutory protection against removal, but Congress built in other guardrails, such as the party-balance rule. The administration has a real argument. It is not a settled one.
There was also a policy fight behind the firings. The commission had resisted the president’s directive to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the national registration form.
The Conservative Case on Both Sides
There is a serious conservative argument that the EAC matters less than the headlines claim. The Constitution gives states the primary role in running elections, and many states do not even use EAC-certified equipment. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board argued that “the November elections would go on even if the agency were hit by an asteroid and vaporized,” as summarized by Tangle. The board also said the firings are “a chance for Democrats to repent and embrace the wisdom of decentralized elections.”
History backs up part of that. The commission went without a quorum from 2010 to 2014, across two federal elections, and had no commissioners at all from 2011 through 2014. The Senate has not confirmed a new EAC commissioner since February 2019, and all three people removed on July 9 were serving past their four-year terms because successive presidents never named replacements.
Law professor Jonathan Turley called the result a “zombie commission,” but he made the same point: “it is the states that continue to administer elections for the most part under our constitutional system.” He expects the move to refocus attention on the election bills the administration is pushing in Congress, which is where that debate belongs.
I agree with the federalism point. But that is an argument for Congress to shrink or end the agency through the normal process, not for emptying it by firing months before a national vote. Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, said he accepted that the president had the authority but “would not have done it” this close to the midterms. That is the right instinct. When you remove the referees right before the game, you invite every losing side to say the game was rigged.
Democrats, for their part, called it something worse. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Joe Morelle said “purging commissioners just months before the midterm elections” was part of a plan “to politicize our elections.” That charge goes too far without evidence. But the administration made it easier to say.
What It Costs Taxpayers
The EAC is a small agency, but taxpayers still fund its staff and grant programs whether or not it has commissioners. A commission that cannot vote is a federal office paying salaries without being able to do its core job. If the administration believes the EAC is unnecessary, the fiscally honest move is to ask Congress to close it and return the savings. If it believes the EAC is useful, it should nominate replacements and ask the Senate to confirm them quickly.
Quick is relative. Hovland’s own nomination took about nine months, which Votebeat called “on the shorter side.” Even a fast nomination now would probably not restore a quorum before November.
What Should Happen Next
- Name nominees now. Two from each party, as the statute requires, so the commission can act as soon as possible.
- Let Congress decide the agency’s future. If it should be smaller or gone, pass a bill. Do not let it drift as an empty office.
- Keep election rules with the states. That is the conservative position, and it is stronger when it is pursued in the open.
An empty commission does not mean a rigged election. It does mean one fewer bipartisan body able to tell voters, with authority, that their machines met the standard. Four months before a national election, that is a strange thing to give up.
Update (November 2026)
Added November 2026. In August, EAC staff released a memo saying that without commissioners they cannot adopt or update the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines or change the national mail registration form. Staff can still certify or decertify voting systems under existing standards, but only through a detailed multi-step procedure, Democracy Docket reported. For what happened at the ballot box, see Democrats won Congress, but voter ID won too and the housing bill Trump would not sign over the SAVE America Act.
Sources
- Tangle: Trump fires election commissioners (EAC structure, quorum history, grant totals, views from right and left)
- NBC Meet the Press: Rep. Mike Lawler reacts to the firings
- U.S. Election Assistance Commission: About the EAC
- Votebeat: Trump fires Election Assistance Commission members, leaving agency unable to act
- Votebeat: What Trump’s Election Assistance Commission firings mean for the 2026 elections
- Reuters: Trump fires Election Assistance Commission members ahead of midterms
- Lawfare: Faithful Execution and the Removal Power
- Democracy Docket: Federal voting commission says it can’t change rules after Trump sacked leadership
