Trump Removes Remaining Election Assistance Commission Members
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President Donald Trump dismissed the two Democratic commissioners of the Election Assistance Commission and allowed the lone Republican member to resign, leaving the bipartisan agency without a quorum.
President Donald Trump has dismissed the two Democratic commissioners of the Election Assistance Commission, Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks, and permitted Republican commissioner Christy McCormick to resign, eliminating the agency's remaining members, according to multiple sources. The move leaves the four-member board without the bipartisan composition required for it to function.
Voter-rights groups and Democratic state election officials expressed concern that the agency’s ability to support state and local election officials will be compromised. > "The EAC plays a critical role in supporting state and local election officials," said Cisco Aguilar, Nevada secretary of state and chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, "and it will again fall on Secretaries of State and other election administrators to fill the gap."
A White House official declined to confirm the specific actions but said the president "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 official added that the administration has been working across agencies and local partners to safeguard elections and invest in infrastructure ahead of the midterm elections.
The Election Assistance Commission, created in 2003, sets standards for voting systems and distributes federal funds for upgrades. Its board is intended to be evenly split between the two major parties, with members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The fourth commissioner, Republican Don Palmer, resigned in April, and the recent dismissals allow the president to appoint new members.
In March 2025, Trump issued an executive order directing the commission to modify the national voter registration form to require proof of U.S. citizenship, a change previously advocated by the law firm America First Legal. The commission had opened a comment period and received hundreds of thousands of responses but had not yet voted on the proposal.
The Bipartisan Policy Center described the departures as a significant loss for one of the few federal institutions designed for bipartisan governance.