Trump Ousts Election Commission Members in Latest Push to Secure Elections
The move could stall federal grants and voting-system testing months before midterm elections, according to the White House and VoteBeat.
- On Friday, President Donald Trump removed Democratic Election Assistance Commission members Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland after they resisted his push to require citizenship documentation on voter registration forms.
- The move follows a recent Supreme Court ruling expanding presidential power to fire members of independent agency boards without cause, enabling Trump's removal of the four-member commission created under the Help America Vote Act.
- Morgan DeWitt Snow, deputy director of presidential personnel, notified Hicks and Hovland via email of their removal. The commission's Republican member Christy McCormick resigned, while former Republican commissioner Donald Palmer departed voluntarily earlier this year.
- Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Joe Morelle denounced the action as an attempt to politicize election administration, warning the shake-up could stall federal grants and complicate the agency's role in voting system oversight.
- David Becker, a former Department of Justice attorney who runs the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the purge likely won't alter state election security. The administration indicated it will appeal a federal judge's ruling blocking Trump's earlier executive order on voter registration.
29 Articles
29 Articles
U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed two members of a bipartisan federal electoral commission who resisted their efforts to demand that potential voters document their U.S. citizenship before registering. The White House confirmed Friday the executive action against members of the Electoral Assistance Commission (EAC), which distributes federal subsidies to states, oversees the testing of voting systems, and maintains the national voter registr…
Donald Trump Ousts Election Commission Members in Latest Push to Reshape US Voting Process
President Donald Trump has ousted members of a bipartisan federal election commission that resisted his efforts to require would-be voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering. The White House on Friday confirmed the executive action against members of the Election Assistance Commission, which distributes federal grants to states, oversees the testing of voting systems...
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