President Trump on Thursday terminated the remaining members of a federal panel that assists election administration officials nationwide after a landmark Supreme Court ruling granted him more power to fire members of independent agencies.
Thomas Hicks and Christy McCormick, who were appointed to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) by former President Barack Obama, were fired via email, according to Reuters. Benjamin Hovland, appointed by Trump in his first term, was forced to resign. A fourth commissioner at the agency, a Trump appointee, departed in April.
The terminations leave the bipartisan EAC with no commissioners and an uncertain future. It’s unclear if Trump will move to appoint new members to the commission.
“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,” read the emails sent out by the White House Presidential Personnel Office.
The firings follow the Supreme Court’s June 29 decision to overturn precedents restricting presidents from removing officials at independent government agencies without cause.
In a 6-3 ruling, the high court found Trump acted lawfully when he fired former Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter last year, with Chief Justice John Roberts noting, “neither Congress nor the courts may saddle [the president] with those with whom he cannot work” and that “subordinates who exercise the President’s power are subject to removal by him.”
In a social media post, Trump deemed the ruling “the Greatest Increase in Presidential Power in the last 100 years,” adding, “Such a Monumental Ruling at such an important time!”
The EAC serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election administration,” accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems and maintains the national mail voter registration form developed by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website.
Trump, who regularly claims the 2020 election was rigged, has pushed for mail-in voting restrictions, national voter-ID laws and has even floated federalizing elections during his second term.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) argued Trump’s removal of the remaining EAC members should “concern” Americans.
“Reports that the White House has dismissed the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission — all of whom were unanimously confirmed by the Senate, including a commissioner appointed by President Trump himself — should concern every American, regardless of party, because the EAC was established by Congress as an independent, bipartisan body to help states administer secure and credible elections,” Warner wrote on X.
“If these reports are accurate, removing every remaining commissioner just months before the 2026 midterm elections is an extraordinary step that demands an immediate explanation from the administration and raises profound concerns about political interference in the institutions that support our elections,” he added.
A White House official confirmed the firings and told Reuters that Trump “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 said the Trump administration 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.”
With Post wires
