Trump Pushes Out Remaining Members of Bipartisan Election Commission Ahead of Midterms
President Trump fired Democratic Election Assistance Commission (EAC) members Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland on July 9, 2026; Republican Commissioner Christy McCormick resigned voluntarily. The EAC — a bipartisan, four-member agency created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 — is now left without a quorum, unable to approve voting machine guidelines, certify equipment, or distribute federal election security grants ahead of the 2026 midterms. The fourth seat had been vacant since Republican Donald Palmer resigned in April 2025.
The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is the only federal agency dedicated to helping states run secure, accessible elections. Congress designed it to be bipartisan — two Democrats, two Republicans — so that no single party could dictate voting equipment standards or grant funding. On July 9, 2026, President Trump fired Democratic Commissioners Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland, while Republican Commissioner Christy McCormick resigned her position (ProPublica, Votebeat, Democracy Docket). The fourth seat had been vacant since Republican Donald Palmer resigned in April 2025. The agency now has zero commissioners and no quorum to conduct business.
Without a quorum, the EAC cannot adopt new Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), decertify compromised voting machines, or distribute the hundreds of millions of dollars in election security grants that states rely on. This is not a passive budget cut; it is a deliberate dismantling of nonpartisan federal election infrastructure. The timing — just months before the 2026 midterms — ensures that key decisions about voting machine security and grant allocation are frozen, creating chaos for state and local election officials who depend on federal standards. The Trump administration has already attempted to co-opt the EAC through executive orders (including one requiring proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms, blocked by a federal judge), but this action goes further by eliminating the agency's ability to function at all.
The impact falls hardest on voters in states that rely on the EAC's guidelines for machine certification and on jurisdictions that need federal grants to upgrade voting equipment or expand access. Without the EAC, the responsibility for machine certification falls back to individual states, but many lack the resources or expertise to set independent standards. The only other federal body with technical election security expertise is CISA, which the administration is also targeting for defunding and politicization. Congress must act urgently to restore the EAC's commissioners and ensure a bipartisan quorum — otherwise, the 2026 midterms will be administered without the federal guardrails that were put in place after the 2000 election debacle.
The humanitarian alternative
Congress should immediately reauthorize and strengthen the Election Assistance Commission by legislation, including a requirement that all four commissioner seats be filled within 60 days of a vacancy, and that the agency's voting-system certification process be made mandatory rather than voluntary for states receiving federal election funds. In the interim, the existing voluntary guidelines should be frozen in place to prevent state-level fragmentation. Additionally, the EAC should be given independent budgeting authority (not subject to White House OMB review) and the power to subpoena voting-machine manufacturers for security audits. This would preserve the bipartisan, expert-based model that has historically kept election infrastructure nonpartisan.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- Within 90 days, at least three states will pass laws requiring voting machines to be certified by the EAC or a state-level equivalent, creating a certification patchwork that drives up costs for vendors.
- Trump will not nominate any EAC commissioners before the November 2026 midterm elections, keeping the agency non-functional.
- At least one major voting machine manufacturer (e.g., ES&S, Dominion) will announce a delay in software updates or new product releases due to the lack of EAC certification guidelines.
Original source — excerpted
news Trump Pushes Out Remaining Members of Bipartisan Election Commission Ahead of Midterms"President Donald Trump has pushed out the three remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission, leaving the bipartisan agency in limbo as he rushes to ..."