Trump Guts the Bipartisan Election Assistance Commission to Clear the Way for Fresh Attacks on Our Electoral System

In yet another attempt to undermine the legitimacy of American elections, Donald Trump fired the two Democratic members of the Election Assistance Commission, “allowing” the one remaining Republican member to resign instead of being fired (the other Republican member resigned in April and had not yet been replaced). This move leaves the EAC, not simply without a quorum, but without any members at all—its remaining staff can carry on routine operations, but cannot take any new actions.

The New York Times has the story:

According to its website, the commission guides states in ensuring they meet voting requirements, oversees testing and certification of voting systems and disperses funding to help states meet requirements. It serves as a national clearinghouse for information on election administration and maintains the national mail voter registration form established by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

After Russia’s election interference efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign, the commission sharpened its focus on cybersecurity issues, supporting states alongside the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as they reviewed and improved safeguards on their voting machines. Mr. Trump in his second term has overseen major cuts at the cybersecurity agency, which has not had a Senate-confirmed director since he returned to the White House. Now, after the ousters at the election commission, the two primary points of contact for state and local elections officials are leaderless.

Given that the EAC is required to have two commissioners from each party, and that appointments require confirmation, Trump has little chance of fully staffing it with loyalists who will support his lies about election security or his own efforts to interfere in voting. Kneecapping the commission entirely, it seems, is his second preference.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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