Trump fires the entire Election Assistance Commission, leaving the federal agency unable to act

The Wire: President Trump fired the remaining members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on July 9, freezing the federal agency devoted solely to election administration.

Why it counts: With no commissioners seated, the EAC loses its quorum and cannot take formal action, from certifying voting equipment to updating guidance. The shutdown leaves the administration an opening to reshape federal election machinery with no bipartisan check in place.

The fine print: The two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, were terminated by email, while Republican Christy McCormick was allowed to resign. A fourth commissioner, Republican Don Palmer, had already stepped down earlier this year, so the removals left the panel entirely empty.

On the record: A White House official said Trump "reserves the right to remove individuals" not fully aligned with securing elections, and added flatly that the commissioners "will be replaced."

The counter: Democrats and state election officials called the move a power grab. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer branded it a "brazen attempt to seize control of our elections before a single vote is cast" and vowed to fight it. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes accused the administration of causing chaos for election workers, and Sen. Mark Warner said the firings should concern every American regardless of party.

The backdrop: Congress created the EAC through the Help America Vote Act of 2002 in the wake of the disputed 2000 election and designed it to be bipartisan, with no more than two of its four commissioners from the same party. The agency certifies voting systems, accredits testing labs, maintains the national mail voter registration form, and distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in federal election funding. It has gone without a quorum before, most notably from 2011 to 2019, but never because a president removed all the commissioners at once. The firings came less than two weeks after Supreme Court removal-power rulings, including the Slaughter decision, which the White House cited as its authority.

Looking ahead: Trump cannot simply install replacements. EAC commissioners must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, a slow process that leaves the agency dark for now. The bigger question is what the administration might attempt with a commissioner-less EAC, from altering the federal voter registration form to reworking voting-system standards.