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You’ve probably never heard of the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC), but President Trump just gave you a really good reason to learn who they are.
He actually just got rid of them all.
President Trump removed every remaining commissioner from the four-member agency. The entire leadership board is now empty, months before the midterm elections. Two Democrat commissioners were fired, one Republican commissioner was allowed to resign, and the fourth seat was already vacant.
Many will say this is just some run-of-the-mill DC housekeeping of a few rando bureaucrats. But once you understand what the commission actually does, the timing starts to look a lot more strategic.
The EAC doesn’t run local elections, count ballots, or declare winners. However, what they do is actually just as important. This group sits behind a massive chunk of machinery that guides American elections. It certifies voting systems, accredits the laboratories that test them, maintains the national mail voter registration form, develops federal election guidance, and oversees certain election funds.
They’re a big deal… and now, they’re gone. For now, anyway.
As it stands now, the commission has no commissioners and can’t make any official action that requires a “board vote” until new members are installed.
No, Trump hasn’t taken “control” of the midterms, but he’s cleared the board at a federal agency that plays a major role in the equipment, standards, paperwork, and money connected to them.
And now everyone’s wondering…what does he plan to put in its place?
Just the News:
President Donald Trump on Thursday night reportedly terminated the members of the Election Assistance Commission, which is an independent commission that assists election administration officials nationwide.
All three of the remaining commissioners were removed in some way, according to Reuters, with the two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, notified by email. The Republican commissioner, Christy McCormick, was allowed to resign.
“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,” the email reads, according to the news outlet. “Thank you for your service.”
The firings leave the four-member commission with no commissioners, meaning it cannot take official action until new members are installed. The fourth member, a Republican, had left voluntarily earlier this year, according to USA Today.
Commissioners are required to be nominated by the president based on recommendations from the Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate, and no more than two commissioners can serve from either party at a time.
Trump can’t fill all four seats with Republicans and turn the commission into his own personal election board, but clearing every seat still matters. The commissioners are gone, formal action has stopped, and Trump now gets to begin rebuilding the agency by nominating new people.
And here’s why these new nominations matter so much.
The EAC isn’t lurking over ballot counters on election night, but it helps decide which voting systems and testing laboratories get federal approval. It also handles guidance, election funding oversight, and the registration form used by voters throughout the country.
That means this commission is directly involved in several issues Trump believes are part of election integrity, including voting-machine security, paper records, voter registration, citizenship verification, and the way federal election money is used.
The decisions this group makes ripple through election offices all over the country.
That’s why these empty seats are important, because the commission can’t just hand authority to one remaining official and continue making all of these major decisions.
Federal law requires the approval of at least three commissioners before the EAC can take official action. Since there are no commissioners left, there can’t be any formal votes.
US CODE:
May be carried out only with the approval of at least three of its members.
Zero commissioners means zero official votes.
Checkmate.
But it’s not smooth sailing for Trump.
If the Senate confirmation process drags on, the EAC could be in this stuck position through the midterms instead of advancing new election-security measures Trump wants before November.
So, the speed of the replacement process is just as important as the replacements Trump picks.
Meanwhile, the White House isn’t pretending these were random firings or routine personnel changes…
Trump has the right to remove commissioners who aren’t fully aligned with the job of securing American elections. Also, this comes after the recent Supreme Court ruling that expanded presidential authority over officials serving on independent federal agencies.
Here’s what a White House official told Reuters:
The president “reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections.”
Clearly, Trump wants commissioners who share his vision of election security, and he’s happy to use the agency’s lawful authority to strengthen the process.
We all know Trump has spent his second term pushing hard for election integrity on citizenship verification, voter-roll accuracy, mail-in ballots, paper trails, and election equipment. The EAC has a role in most of those battles.
Here’s what the White House said the EAC would be expected to do.
White House.gov:
The Election Assistance Commission will require documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration forms.
Obviously, new commissioners won’t be able to wave a magic wand and rewrite election law before November.
But a commission led by people who agree with Trump’s election-security agenda could use its existing authority in a very different way from commissioners who resist them.
So now, we wait and see who he picks and how fast he can get their butts in seats.
With the midterms coming up fast, that decision could matter a lot more than most Americans realize.
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