Trump sought to bypass elections agency, report says

White House officials spent months seeking to sidestep the Election Assistance Commission and use emergency powers to force changes to voting machines before Donald Trump removed its leaders, leaving the federal election agency without leadership.

The Election Assistance Commission was created by Congress in 2002 under the Help America Vote Act, part of the response to the disputed 2000 election. It is a four-member bipartisan body, with no more than two commissioners from the same party, and its members are nominated by the president from recommendations made by congressional leaders in the House and Senate.

It distributes federal election grants, tests voting systems and maintains the national voter registration form, giving it influence over how states administer elections even though it does not run elections itself. Senate confirmation is required to fill vacancies, which means the White House action left no quick administrative path to restore the panel.

Trump’s move removed the two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Ben Hovland, while Republican Christy McCormick was allowed to resign. That left the commission vacant heading into the November 2026 midterms, when states will be preparing systems, certifying equipment and coordinating on election security.

In February 2025, Trump moved against Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub, a dispute that raised the same underlying question now facing the elections agency: how far a president can go in removing members of an independent federal body. Weintraub challenged the legality of her removal and argued that commissioners cannot be replaced by a simple dismissal letter.