The Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency tasked with helping states run secure and accurate elections, now has exactly zero commissioners after President Trump cleaned house on Friday. As USA Journal reported, both Democratic commissioners got the classic "you're fired" email, Republican commissioner Christy McCormick got a phone call and was asked to resign, and the fourth commissioner had already bounced earlier this year. The agency is now a building with a logo and presumably some very confused interns.
The core issue here is that the EAC has been dragging its feet on updating the national voter registration form to require proof of citizenship. Trump and his allies wanted that update. The EAC apparently did not share that sense of urgency. So Trump used the authority affirmed by the Supreme Court's Slaughter decision, which gives the president broad power to remove independent agency commissioners, and showed them all the door at once.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "brazen attempt to seize control of our elections," which is a bold statement from a man who has publicly said Democrats plan to kill the filibuster and federalize election law the second they regain power. Say what you will about Schumer, but the man has never once been accused of lacking audacity.
The practical fallout is actually pretty significant. Without any commissioners, the EAC cannot distribute federal election funds, certify voting machines, or modify the national voter registration form. That last part is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this story. Essentially, the current form stays frozen in place until Trump installs new leadership willing to add citizenship verification requirements. It is the bureaucratic equivalent of unplugging someone's computer until they agree to update their password.
Meanwhile, the SAVE America Act, which would address citizenship verification through legislation, remains stalled in the Senate because Majority Leader John Thune apparently cannot wrangle 51 votes out of his own 53 seat Republican majority. That is an impressive level of organizational dysfunction. Herding cats would be easier, and cats do not even have committee assignments.
The legal challenges are coming. They always come. Democrats will file suits arguing the firings exceed presidential authority, but the administration is betting the Slaughter precedent holds up. Courts will eventually weigh in, and until then, the EAC sits empty.
What makes this whole saga entertaining is that both sides are accusing the other of trying to rig elections while simultaneously maneuvering to control the machinery of elections as aggressively as possible. One side fires the entire commission on a Friday afternoon. The other side promises to nuke Senate rules the moment they get the chance. And both sides look directly into the camera and say they are the ones protecting democracy.
The 2026 midterms are months away. The EAC has no leadership. The Senate cannot pass its own bill. And everybody involved is absolutely certain they are the good guys. Welcome to election season, folks.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
