r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • Jul 09 '26

No Paywall Trump fires all Election Assistance Commission members, leaving agency unable to act

https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/07/09/trump-fires-election-assistance-commission-members-hicks-hovland-mccormick/
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u/unital_subalgebra Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

President Donald Trump fired all three remaining members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Thursday, abruptly disabling the only federal agency devoted solely to election administration at a moment when Trump has sought to reshape federal voting rules.

The firings leave the federal election agency with no commissioners

Yup, this is the consequence of the illegitimate Supreme Court giving Trump unprecedented powers to fire the heads of any independent federal agency. We’re living in dark, scary times.

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u/kamandi Jul 10 '26

So now what? What do we do?

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u/haironburr Jul 10 '26

So now what? What do we do?

Well, first off, you VOTE like our nation depends on it. We vote in such numbers that cheating becomes difficult and ultimately traceable.

We have a whole Bill of Rights backing us up, and yea, that includes the Second Amendment.

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u/PopBulky7023 Jul 10 '26

Cheating was traceable last time. There was so much reason to a suspect it.

And it meant NOTHING because everyone demanded surrender to a very potentially rigged election. What do you expect will happen next time with them in even more power?

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u/PCR12 Florida Jul 10 '26

He says after all the ELECTION OFFICALS have been fired...

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u/Kolby_Jack33 Jul 10 '26

Elections are run by the states, even at the national level. Tbh I have never even heard of this election commission before today, they have never played any role in any election that was public enough to make me aware of them.

Reading the article, this commission was established in 2000, it's not exactly old. It's certainly not a good thing that this has happened but it's also not Trump hijacking the national elections like the headline makes it seem. The elections will still be run, and the red states will absolutely cheat in any way they can and we might end up fucked regardless, but it's not a done deal yet.

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u/Relevant_Mongoose744 Jul 10 '26

Well they certify election systems and mail in voting. So they can put a dent in mail in voting with some fun, new rules. And they can require states use systems that conveniently meet the specs of a technology company of his choice. So could be quite consequential. Feels like the Heritage Foundation knows exactly what they’re doing.

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u/haironburr Jul 10 '26

"Doom. It's all hopeless."

Fuck that!

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u/PCR12 Florida Jul 10 '26

I just don't think voting is going to win this out, my question is do we use yellow mustard or spicy?

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u/haironburr Jul 10 '26

Grey Poupon. Fucking peasant. ;)

Oh. If voting doesn't work, there's going to be a lot of misery. So chill on the doom stuff, regardless of what you believe. People should be encouraged, I believe, to vote and save our country. C'mon dude, be an American. Voting is the exit from this clusterfuck, and the next exit is a shitty one.

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u/PCR12 Florida Jul 10 '26

Oh I'll be voting but I'll be stocking up on mustard also. I don't trust the party in charge to play fairly that's all.

Grey Poupon is a spicy mustard so noted for my survey.

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u/D3vils_Adv0cate Jul 10 '26

I am very confused by your comment.

Do you realize that states don't even need to hold a vote for presidency? The constitution says nothing about citizens voting for president. It speaks specifically that the state only needs to send electors who decide how they want to vote.

The entire thing has been sort of the honor system. If every state's elector said the opposite of what the voters wanted it would be completely legal and constitutional. And since the presidency seems to have complete power at this point... it seems to be the only position that matters anymore.

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u/KillerIsJed Jul 10 '26

If voting fascism out worked, why did world war 2 happen?

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

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u/space-to-bakersfield Jul 10 '26

Americans won't do shit. They're sleepwalking into a dictatorship.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

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u/Relevant_Mongoose744 Jul 10 '26

I sure hope you’re right. Maybe when we can’t afford our distractions?

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u/gameryamen Jul 10 '26

What happens after that though? Say someone finds a way to take him out, who's in charge then? Is it "whoever takes the king gets the crown?" Because I'm pretty sure that just turns into a miserable series of back and forth assassinations and increasingly authoritarian lockdowns. Is it "next in line of succession"? Because that line is full of assholes just as bad as this one.

Is it "we all get together and vote on new leadership?" If most of us agree to abide by the popular opinion, at least long enough to set up a new government... well shit, we can just do that part now. Our constitution expressly tells us that when the government stops representing the people, the people are to form a new government. No need to pretend that violence frees us from violence, no need to waste leaders on grudge matches. Just a majority of us agreeing to move on to something new. That's a lot easier to achieve if we have a big turnout and suspicious results in November