After Thursday night firings, election commission has no members

Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on Jul 10, 2026

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday night removed the remaining members of a federal commission intended to assist with federal elections, amid his broader effort to control voting procedures and election administration.

Trump fired Chair Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland from the Election Assistance Commission, while Republican Commissioner Christy McCormick resigned.

A White House official confirmed the firings and said a Supreme Court decision from last month gave Trump the “precedence” to do so.

“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 statement said.

Last month the court’s six-justice conservative majority decided that legal protections preventing the removal of officials from independent branches of government, including agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, were unconstitutional.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y., the ranking members on the respective committees in Congress that oversee elections, criticized the firings in a joint statement Thursday night.

“Trump continues to double down on his efforts to erode trust in our elections, undermine independent oversight, and further his Administration’s attempt to ‘take over’ elections. Americans deserve elections that are safe, secure, and run free from political interference — not overseen by partisan loyalists and election deniers beholden to Trump,” the statement said.

Last year, Trump sought to force the commission to change the federal voter registration form to require proof of citizenship through executive order. That was among several of Trump’s attempts to exert control over federal elections that have been blocked by the courts.

Created by a law known as the Help America Vote Act in 2002, the bipartisan four-member Election Assistance Commission does not directly administer elections or contact with voters. Instead, the commission is tasked with overseeing the testing and certification of voting systems, approving the national voter registration form, administering election grants and coordinating with state election officials.

The commission is currently without any confirmed members. Republican commissioner Donald Palmer left the agency in April. Any replacements for the removed commissioners would have to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

The firings come at the same time Trump has pushed Congress to pass legislation asserting more federal control of federal elections. On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would not sign a bipartisan housing bill because Congress had not passed his preferred election overhaul and voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act. The housing bill will still become law without his signature Friday.

That election legislation would impose federal voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements on the states. In addition, the bill would limit mail voting and prohibit the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, among other provisions.

“THE SAVE AMERICA ACT’S non-passage is CRAZY, and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it!” Trump posted.

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(John T. Bennett contributed to this report.)