Trump fires Democrats on election commission, Republican resigns

Jeff Mason, Bloomberg News on Jul 10, 2026

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired two Democratic members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an agency charged with helping states facilitate accurate elections, and the Republican member resigned, a White House official said Thursday night.

The departures mark the latest move by the president to put his stamp on how U.S. elections are run, months before voters go to the polls in November for an election that will determine control of Congress.

Trump, who continues to falsely claim that he won the 2020 election against Joe Biden and portrays the U.S. electoral system as being beset with fraud, has sought to restrict voting rights by clamping down on mail-in ballots and requiring proof of citizenship when people come to the polls.

On its website, the commission says its bipartisan mission is “to help election officials improve the administration of elections and help Americans participate in the voting process.”

Michael Waldman, president and chief executive officer of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, called the terminations “deeply concerning in light of President Trump’s relentless efforts to try to interfere in elections.”

“These removals leave the agency without leadership and unable to carry out its major responsibilities,” Waldman said.

The Supreme Court expanded a president’s right to dismiss government officials, including at independent agencies, in a ruling last month that allowed Trump to fire Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, despite a law that said commissioners could be removed only for specified reasons.

The White House official cited the Slaughter decision on Thursday when asked about the EAC firings. Trump reserves the right to remove individuals who may not be totally aligned in securing U.S. elections, and the Supreme Court ruling gave him precedence to do so, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“This move is another pathetic attempt to sow doubt in our elections, which are safely and expertly run by states and localities,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, an advocacy group.

Trump’s Republican Party holds narrow majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. But polls show that voters, anxious about the cost of living, have grown disenchanted with his leadership, and Democrats see opportunities to recapture both houses.

The president’s efforts to pass the Save Act, which includes measures to restrict mail-in voting and require voter identification, have failed in the Senate. He has refused so far to sign a bipartisan housing bill in protest.