Trump ousts election commission members in latest push to reshape U.S. voting

By — Bill Barrow, Associated Press Bill Barrow, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-ousts-election-commission-members-in-latest-push-to-reshape-u-s-voting Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump ousts election commission members in latest push to reshape U.S. voting Politics Jul 10, 2026 1:01 PM EDT 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 and maintains the national voter registration form. READ MORE: Judge rejects Justice Department's 'unreasonable' attempt to get names of 2020 election workers in Fulton County Though the move likely won't have major effects on the November midterms, it's the latest instance of the Republican president trying to exert White House influence over how U.S. elections are conducted, and it's the first test of his newly expanded presidential power after the Supreme Court ruled recently that the president can fire members of independent agency boards without cause. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. "The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America's elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted. The Slaughter decision gives the President precedence to do so," said a White House statement to AP. The president removed the four-seat commission's two Democratic members, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland. The panel's Republican member, Christy McCormick resigned. Former Republican commissioner Donald Palmer already had left his post voluntarily earlier this year. The changes were first reported by VoteBeat, a news outlet that covers elections and voting across the U.S. READ MORE: Trump says he won't sign bipartisan housing affordability bill Trump has repeatedly tried to reshape voting regulations, even though the U.S. Constitution grants control of elections to the states and not the president. Citing that separation of powers, courtshaveblocked most of Trump's two executive orders that sought to reshape voting. Trump has also launched an investigation of his 2020 loss, which he continues to falsely insist was due to fraud, and this week his administration threatened states if they did not try to purge what federal officials believe are noncitizens from their voter rolls. Still, Trump has largely been powerless to change election processes through executive fiat and David Becker, a former Department of Justice attorney who runs the Center for Election Innovation & Research,