{"id":3481,"date":"2026-07-11T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3481"},"modified":"2026-07-11T06:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:00:09","slug":"trump-fires-election-assistance-commission-members-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3481","title":{"rendered":"Trump fires Election Assistance Commission members: What to know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><em>This story appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-logoff-newsletter-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Logoff<\/a>, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/pages\/logoff-newsletter-trump-administration-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Subscribe here<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>Welcome to The Logoff:<\/strong> President Donald Trump is purging a federal elections commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What\u2019s happening?<\/strong> This is not <em>the<\/em> Federal Election Commission being purged, but rather the Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan agency designed to make elections run more smoothly. The four-member commission was already down to three members before yesterday; then, Trump removed its two Democratic members while the remaining Republican member resigned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What does the EAC do?<\/strong> In the EAC\u2019s own words, its goal is to \u201chelp election officials improve the administration of elections and help Americans participate in the voting process.\u201d Broadly speaking, that means things like certifying voting systems, providing information to state election administrators, and disbursing election security grants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/146430\/election-assistance-commission\/\">As Just Security explains<\/a>, the EAC can still follow through on most of its tasks without Senate-confirmed commissioners in place \u2014 but it can\u2019t adopt new policies or update existing ones to respond to new needs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What\u2019s the context?<\/strong> The dismantling of EAC leadership is a direct consequence of the Supreme Court\u2019s recent decision in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/493610\/supreme-court-trump-slaughter-cook-unitary-executive\"><em>Trump v. Slaughter<\/em><\/a>, where it ruled that the president has the power to remove appointees at ostensibly independent federal agencies on a whim (with one big Federal Reserve-shaped exception).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">As my colleagues Zack Beauchamp and Ian Millhiser wrote at the time, the decision was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy\/493735\/trump-power-agencies-slaughter-supreme-court\">big boost to Trump\u2019s power<\/a> and created a serious threat of politicization of government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\"><strong>What\u2019s the big picture?<\/strong> US elections are administered at the state level, which limits how much Trump can interfere ahead of the midterms (especially with Congress rebuffing his entreaties to pass the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/494224\/save-america-act-explained-impact-provisions-id-citizenship\">SAVE America Act<\/a>, which would create new ID restrictions on voting). Removing the EAC\u2019s leadership won\u2019t cause an immediate crisis \u2014 but it does remove one more support for state election workers already suffering from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/08\/20\/nx-s1-5503954\/turnover-election-officials-trump\">burnout, threats, and harassment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">And with that, it\u2019s time to log off\u2026<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Hi readers, a quick note from me before we log off today: I\u2019ll be out for the next two weeks on vacation, leaving the Logoff in the extremely capable hands of my Vox colleagues. I hope you enjoy the change of pace, and I\u2019ll see you on July 27.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Now, before I go: A fun just-trust-me link from the journalist Hamilton Nolan about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamiltonnolan.com\/p\/pie-town-is-calling-you\">exploring the unknown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Plus, a World Cup thing: Norway and England play tomorrow for a spot in the World Cup semifinal. Here\u2019s a great bit of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7433514\/2026\/07\/10\/erling-haaland-usa-world-cup\/?unlocked_article_code=1.wlA.QOZq.8qG4S_cl3nK-&amp;source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&amp;smid=url-share-ta\">pre-match reading<\/a> about Erling Haaland, Norway\u2019s star striker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump is purging a federal elections commission. What\u2019s happening? This is not the Federal Election Commission being purged, but rather the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/gettyimages-2284693620.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}