The firing leaves the federal election body vacant as President Trump seeks sweeping changes to U.S. voting rules.
Published July 10, 2026
President Donald Trump has fired the last remaining member of the independent federal commission that assists with U.S. election assistance, leaving the bipartisan commission without a sitting member.
The White House confirmed the news on Friday, with the November midterm elections just months away.
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“The President and the heads of the executive branch reserve the right to remove anyone who may not fully agree with the important mission of securing America’s elections,” the White House said in a statement.
He added that the administration is “working with all agencies and local partners to protect elections from fraud and fraud” ahead of the midterm elections.
The decision concerns the Election Assistance Commission (ECA), an independent agency created by Congress in 2002 to assist state and local election officials. Its duties include creating non-binding election guidelines, certifying voting systems, and maintaining the national mail-in voter registration form.
Typically, four commissioners direct the agency. But on Thursday, two Democratic nominees, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, were fired via email, Reuters reported.
The only remaining Republican, Christie McCormick, has resigned. A fourth member, Republican nominee Donald Palmer, had already resigned in April.
The commission, required by law to have an equal representation of Democrats and Republicans, was created to help after the contentious 2000 presidential election.
President Trump’s decision to dismiss the remaining committee members has further heightened concerns that he may try to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the remainder of his term.
Under the U.S. Constitution, election administration is the responsibility of the states, not the federal government.
The Election Assistance Commission had previously refused to implement a portion of President Trump’s March 2025 executive order requiring proof of citizenship on national mail-in voter registration forms.
A federal judge later blocked that portion of the executive order, ruling that the president had exceeded his authority. Mr. Trump appealed the ruling.
Voters are already required to verify their citizenship before voting, as non-referendum voting is illegal in the United States. It is rare for non-citizens to vote.
The firings are the latest in a broader effort by the president to reshape how elections are conducted.
The Trump administration has pushed to tighten mail-in voting rules and threatened to withhold some federal funding from states that refuse to adopt new election requirements. Many of these efforts have been challenged in court.
The administration also sent a letter to election officials earlier this week warning them that noncitizens must be removed from voter rolls or face prosecution.
President Trump defended the measure as necessary to protect the integrity of the election. He has repeatedly claimed that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election was the result of fraud, a claim that is not supported by evidence.
The firings come after the U.S. Supreme Court last month expanded the president’s ability to fire members of independent agencies even without cause.
The court ruled 6-3 in Trump’s favor, arguing that “neither Congress nor the courts can impose the president on leaders of the executive branch they do not approve of.”
The president is authorized by law to appoint a successor to the commission. It is not yet clear whether President Trump intends to name a replacement or leave the seat vacant.
