President Donald Trump has ousted members of a bipartisan federal election commission that resisted his efforts to require would-be voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering.
The White House confirmed the executive action against members of the Election Assistance Commission, which distributes federal grants to states, oversees the testing of voting systems and maintains the national voter registration form.
The US President removed the four-seat commission’s two Democratic members, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. The panel’s Republican member, Christy McCormick resigned. Former Republican Commissioner Donald Palmer already had left his post voluntarily earlier this year.
Though the move likely won’t have major effects on the November midterms, it’s the latest instance of the Republican president trying to exert White House influence over how U.S. elections are conducted, and it’s the first test of his newly expanded presidential power after the Supreme Court ruled recently that the president can fire members of independent agency boards without cause.
“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.”
White House statement
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 U.S. citizenship, as Trump’s urged in a sweeping March 2025 executive order on U.S. elections.
Though the form itself does not require citizenship documents, voter registration materials from the agency do state clearly that it already is illegal to falsely claim US citizenship to vote.
A federal judge blocked the order, ruling it exceeded 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 perhaps 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.
Congress created the commission as part of the Help America Vote Act, a bipartisan law signed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2002. The act requires the commission to include two Democrats and two Republicans, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Hicks and McCormick were appointed by President Barack Obama. Trump appointed Hovland during his first presidency.
Trump Accused Of Politicizing Voting Process
On Capitol Hill, the leading Democrats with election oversight responsibility criticised the decision saying that Trump, rather than bolstering US election integrity, is further politicizing the voting process. “President Trump is trying to dismantle yet another independent guardrail of our democracy designed to keep elections fair and secure,” said Senator Alex Padilla and Rep. Joe Morelle.
Padilla is the ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee, and Morelle is ranking member of the House Administration Committee.
“Purging commissioners just months before the midterm elections and further gutting support for our state and local elections officials is a blatant part of his plan to politicize our elections and enable more unlawful and dangerous election interference.”
Senator Alex Padilla and Rep. Joe Morelle.
The lawmakers noted that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority enabled Trump’s move with its decision to “upend decades of executive power to appease the President.”
Hicks and Hovland could challenge their dismissals, but that ultimately could require the Supreme Court to revisit two decisions it just issued on the president’s power over independent agencies.
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