Trump ousts election commission members in latest push to reshape voting process: ‘Not totally aligned with…’
US President Donald Trump has ousted members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission (EAC) after they resisted his push to require proof of US citizenship
US President Donald Trump has ousted members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission (EAC) after they resisted his push to require proof of US citizenship for voter registration. The White House confirmed the executive action on Friday, marking the president's latest effort to consolidate influence over federal election oversight. It justified the removals by citing a recent Supreme Court ruling, the Slaughter-House decision, which expanded the president's authority to fire members of independent agency boards. In a statement to the AP, the White House said the president reserves the right to remove individuals who are not “totally aligned” with the administration's goals for election security. “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 Slaughter decision gives the President precedence to do so,” the White House said in a statement to AP. The president removed the commission's two Democratic members, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. The panel's Republican member, Christy McCormick resigned. Republican commissioner Donald Palmer already had left his post voluntarily earlier this year. The changes were first reported by VoteBeat, a news outlet that covers elections and voting across the US. While the White House statement did not offer a specific reason for Trump's action, the commission has previously declined to change the national voter registration form to require documentation of an applicant's US citizenship, as Trump urged in a sweeping March 2025 executive order on US elections.
A federal judge blocked the order, ruling it exceeds the president's authority since the US Constitution grants authority over elections management and oversight to Congress and the states. The administration has indicated it will appeal. It was not clear whether Trump planned to nominate new members immediately or leave the positions vacant - a move that, months ahead of midterm elections, could prevent the agency from distributing new grants to state or local elections offices and, at the least, complicate its role in overseeing testing and certification of voting systems around the country. "The Administration from the start has been working across all agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse, and investing in a strong infrastructure to sustain that mission, especially in the midterm elections," the White House said.
The BriefWire