The White House ousted all three sitting members of the Election Assistance Commission on Thursday, and the action left the federal election agency without any sitting commissioners. Trump fires The Election Commission as the White House said replacements would come later, but those appointments must clear Senate confirmation.
Thomas Hicks and Benjamin W. Hovland were fired by email, while Christy McCormick received a call and was asked to resign. Morgan DeWitt Snow sent the Democratic commissioners a brief termination email around 4 p.m. ET saying their positions were terminated effective immediately.
Benjamin W. Hovland and Missouri
Hovland said he was returning from a work trip to a Missouri election office when he was fired. He described the loss of commissioners as leaving the agency vulnerable at a moment when state and local officials are preparing for the midterm elections.
The Election Assistance Commission is a bipartisan body that helps state and local officials run elections, certifies election equipment, and works with other agencies to keep state and local elections running smoothly. From 2018 to 2025, the Bipartisan Policy Center said the commission distributed more than $1 billion in grants for election security.
White House and Senate confirmation
The commission normally has two Republicans and two Democrats, but one Republican commissioner, Don Palmer, resigned this year, leaving the panel with just three members before Thursday’s removals. A White House official said the three commissioners would be replaced.
That replacement process is slower than the firings. Presidential appointments to the Election Assistance Commission are subject to Senate confirmation, which means the White House cannot restore the panel on its own.
Matthew Weil on December 2011
Matthew Weil said the agency once went three years without commissioners, starting in December 2011, and he described it as “pretty well hamstrung.” Adrian Fontes said the administration was causing chaos for election officials across the country and said, “This undermines the integrity of nonpartisan election administration.”
Who the White House intends to nominate for the vacant seats before the midterm elections remains the open question. Until those names are sent to the Senate and approved, the commission stays without sitting members.
