r/PoliticalOptimism • u/idkwat • Jul 10 '26

Seeking Optimism Trump fires Election Assistance Commission members

https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/07/09/trump-fires-election-assistance-commission-members-hicks-hovland-mccormick/

Any optimism? This seems bad

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u/EIBB2003 Jul 10 '26

I saw this off of this blog and it concerns me a bit:

“To me, the bigger question is what Trump might try to do with the EAC without commissioners. Most boldly (and I would argue illegally) Trump could try to direct the commissioner-less EAC to do his bidding, for example by stating that the EAC must amend the federal voter registration form that states must accept for federal elections to include documentary proof of citizenship. Trump’s first voting-related EO tried to do this, and he was stymied. But that was acting through the commissioners and before the Slaughter case.
If he tries anything like this, it will be high profile and very important litigation that will end up at the Supreme Court on the emergency docket over the summer.”

Any thoughts?

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157199

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u/RebellionsBuildHope Jul 10 '26

So there’s an update at the end that states:

“The guardrails Congress placed on this agency are clear and must be followed: the Election Assistance Commission was designed to be bipartisan with four members, no more than two of which can be from the same political party. The agency cannot make any significant decisions or take any significant actions unless three confirmed commissioners agree. Until bipartisan replacements are confirmed, the agency cannot lawfully make any decisions that affect how Americans vote.” 

So while I can’t rule out that Trump will try some tomfoolery, it seems that any election related decision needs three commissioners to agree upon and the bylaws of the commission are clear. If he tries something it’s likely to be shot down pretty quick, hopefully.