Trump clears out bipartisan election assistance commission

A White House official on Friday confirmed reports that President Donald Trump removed two Democratic members of a bipartisan federal election commission, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. Republican member Christy McCormick resigned, a source familiar with the situation told WORLD, leaving the election assistance commission completely empty. Its fourth member, a Republican, recently resigned to join the Heritage Foundation. The White House did not indicate whether Trump had new candidates in mind for the commission. By law, the commission can be made up of as many as six members. No more than three members can represent the same political party.

The commission oversees testing of voting systems, the distribution of federal voting-related grants to states, and national mail voter registration forms. The White House official told WORLD in an email that Trump exercised his authority to remove individuals who may not have been totally aligned with his push to secure U.S. elections ahead of the midterms. The official said Trump’s executive action was based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, in which the court said he had broad authority to remove members of executive agencies.

Trump in March 2025 issued an executive order directing the commission to change mail voter registration forms, adding requirements for voters to prove their citizenship via a passport or other document. A federal judge later blocked that order. Republican lawmakers are working to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to display proof of citizenship and a photo ID.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on Trump’s plan to have the Supreme Court rehear a birthright citizenship case.