President Donald Trump has terminated the remaining three members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), an independent federal agency that assists election administration officials nationwide. The terminations occurred on Thursday, July 9, just months before the November midterm elections.
The EAC, established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, is a bipartisan commission with four members—two Republicans and two Democrats—nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The remaining three commissioners were removed in different ways: the Republican appointee resigned, while the two Democratic appointees were fired via email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office. A fourth commissioner had already departed in April, leaving all seats vacant.
The White House confirmed the terminations in a statement, citing a recent Supreme Court decision that expanded presidential authority to remove members of independent federal agencies. The court ruled that executive agencies should generally be accountable to the elected president, giving the administration broader authority to remove and replace officials. The White House stated that the president reserves the right to remove individuals who may not be aligned with securing elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted.
Critics, including Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, condemned the move, describing it as undermining the integrity of nonpartisan election administration. Fontes stated that the action is irresponsible and dangerous, causing chaos for election officials across the country. The EAC serves as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration, accredits testing laboratories, certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail voter registration form.
The terminations come as Trump continues to advocate for changes to vote-by-mail requirements and investigates the 2020 election outcome, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The move has drawn attention to the commission's independence and the president's authority to reshape federal agencies ahead of the midterm elections.