Trump cleans house at the Election Assistance Commission : NPR

Key Points:

• President Trump dismissed the remaining members of the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) just months before the midterm elections, prompting strong criticism from Democrats and voting rights advocates.
• The White House cited a recent Supreme Court ruling in the Slaughter case, which allows presidents greater authority to remove members of independent federal agencies, as justification for the move.
• The EAC, established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, plays a key role in certifying voting systems and setting election administration guidelines, with commissioners nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
• Democrats and voting rights groups condemned the dismissals as an attempt to politicize elections and undermine election security, warning that the EAC is now left without leadership to fulfill its responsibilities.
• Experts noted that while the EAC has often lacked a quorum, Trump's removal of commissioners is unprecedented and threatens one of the few federal agencies explicitly designed for bipartisan governance.