Donald Trump fires the last members of the independent American electoral commission | News 2026 US midterm elections

The layoffs leave the federal election body vacant as Trump pushes for broader changes to U.S. voting rules.

Published on July 10, 2026July 10, 2026

President Donald Trump has removed the remaining members of an independent federal commission that helps support U.S. elections, leaving the bipartisan body without sitting commissioners.

The White House confirmed the news Friday, just months before the November midterm elections.

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“The President and head of the Executive Branch reserves the right to remove individuals who may not be fully aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections,” the White House said in a statement.

He added that the administration had “worked with all local agencies and partners to protect elections from fraud and abuse” in the run-up to the midterm elections.

The decision concerns the Election Assistance Commission (ECA), an independent office created by Congress in 2002 to support state and local election officials. Among its tasks are creating non-binding election guidelines, certifying voting systems and maintaining the national absentee voter registration form.

Four commissioners typically run the agency. But on Thursday, both Democratic candidates – Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland – were dismissed via email, according to the Reuters news agency.

The only remaining Republican, Christy McCormick, resigned. A fourth commissioner, Donald Palmer, appointed by the Republicans, had already left the country in April.

The law requires the commission to be composed equally of Democrats and Republicans, and it was established to provide assistance after the disputed 2000 presidential election.

Trump’s decision to fire the remaining commissioners has further raised concerns that he may seek to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress for the remainder of his term.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the administration of elections is the responsibility of the state, not the federal government.

The Election Assistance Commission previously declined to implement part of Trump’s March 2025 executive order that directed it to require proof of citizenship on the nation’s mail-in voter registration form.

A federal judge then blocked that part of the executive order, ruling that the president had exceeded his authority. Trump appealed the decision.

Voters are already required to affirm their citizenship before voting, as non-citizen voting is illegal in the United States. Cases of non-citizen voting are rare.

The firings are the latest in a broader effort by the president to reshape how elections are conducted.

The Trump administration has pushed to strengthen rules for mail-in voting and has threatened to withhold some federal funding from states that refuse to adopt new election requirements. Many of these efforts have been challenged in court.

Earlier this week, the administration also sent letters warning election officials that they could face lawsuits if they failed to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

Trump defended these actions 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 not supported by evidence.

The latest firings come after the U.S. Supreme Court last month expanded the president’s authority to fire members of independent agencies, even without cause.

The court ruled six to three in Trump’s favor, arguing that “neither Congress nor the courts can impose” executive branch leadership on the president that he does not approve of.

The president is authorized by law to appoint replacements to the commission. It is not yet clear whether Trump plans to nominate replacements or leave the seats vacant.

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