Donald Trump removes final members of independent US election commission
Al Jazeera – News
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President Donald Trump has removed the last remaining members of an independent federal commission that helps support United States elections, leaving the bipartisan body with no sitting commissioners. The White House confirmed the news on Friday, with only months to spare before November’s midterm elections . “The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections,” the White House said in a statement. It added that the administration had been “working across all agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse” in the run-up to the midterms. The decision concerns the Election Assistance Commission (ECA), an independence office created by Congress in 2002 to support state and local election officials. Trump’s decision to fire the remaining commissioners has further raised concerns that he may seek to intervene in the upcoming midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress for the rest of his term. The Election Assistance Commission had previously declined to implement part of Trump’s March 2025 executive order that called upon it to require proof of citizenship on the national mail voter registration form. A federal judge later blocked that part of that executive order, ruling the president had exceeded his authority. Voters are already required to affirm their citizenship before voting, as non-citizen voting is illegal in the US. The latest firings come after the US Supreme Court last month expanded the president’s power to fire members of independent agencies, even without cause. The court ruled six to three in Trump’s favour, arguing that “neither Congress nor the courts may saddle” the president with executive-branch leaders he does not approve of.
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The dismissals leave the federal election body vacant as Trump presses for broader changes to US voting rules.
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