Trump Pushes Out Remaining Members of Bipartisan Election Commission Ahead of Midterms

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 remake how elections are run before this year's midterms. Trump fired Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks, the Democrats on the commission, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ProPublica, which was the first to report the actions on its social media accounts. Christy McCormick, the Republican, was allowed to resign, the sources said. The commission's unprecedented dismantling alarmed voter advocacy groups and Democratic state election officials, who called the move "reckless and irresponsible." Its four-member board is designed to be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, all nominated by the president at the recommendation of congressional leadership and confirmed by the Senate. The fourth commissioner, Don Palmer, a Republican, resigned in April. By dismissing the commission's remaining members, Trump can try to put forward replacements who may be more amenable to his demands. Hovland was in Missouri on Thursday visiting a local election office and an early voting location when he got an email from the White House telling him that he had been fired. He was visiting the office to learn about new measures put in place to protect election workers.