On July 9, 2026, President Trump fired all three remaining U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) commissioners — Democrats Thomas Hicks (the commission's chair) and Benjamin Hovland by email, Republican Christy McCormick by request to resign — leaving the only federal agency devoted solely to election administration with zero commissioners. A fourth commissioner, Republican Donald Palmer, had already left for the Heritage Foundation earlier this year. On the same day, the Department of Homeland Security published a FEMA grant notice requiring states to adopt five election rule changes or forfeit 20% of their anti-terrorism grant funding — $1.064 billion across three programs. States have until July 24 to apply for the grants.

1. This Is Election Security (Trump Administration and DHS)

The administration says it's protecting elections from foreign interference, insider threats, and non-citizen voters.

The voting systems states use can't be trusted. That's the administration's core argument. A DHS spokesperson said the new grant requirements will "preserve election integrity and ensure that Americans can trust the results" — taking "decisive action to protect election systems from threats like foreign interference, insider threats and cyberattacks."

The president had legal authority to fire the commissioners. The termination emails cited the Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, which extended presidential removal power over independent agency leaders. A White House official said Trump "reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America's elections."

Two requirements are doing most of the work. States must transition away from QR-code ballot systems to hand-marked paper ballots, and must run every registered voter through DHS's SAVE database within 120 days to verify citizenship.

2. But It's Ransoming Public Safety (Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer)

Democratic governors and civil liberties groups say the administration is using public safety funding as a lever to rewrite election rules.

Counter-terrorism money shouldn't be hostage to election politics. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the administration is "putting New Yorkers' lives at risk to forward their political agenda." Her state expects approximately $204 million from these three programs in FY2026. A 20% holdback would cost New York roughly $41 million in counter-terrorism and police preparedness funding.

It's a power grab right before the midterms. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "brazen attempt to seize control of our elections before a single vote is cast." The EAC firings, he argued, stripped away the bipartisan watchdog Congress created after the 2000 election to prevent exactly this kind of executive interference.

The EAC firings fit a pattern of election interventions. Brennan Center President Michael Waldman said the dismissals are "deeply concerning" given the administration's other moves. Democracy Docket's Marc Elias framed the FEMA action as an extension of Trump's "anti-voting agenda" — using the same grant mechanism courts have already blocked three times.

3. And Courts Have Blocked Every Version of This (Rick Hasen, David Becker)

Independent election law experts say the legal theory is shaky and the operational timeline is impossible.

Firing the EAC commissioners may not even be legal. UCLA election law professor Rick Hasen says it's an "open question" whether presidential removal power extends to the EAC. The Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. Slaughter targeted regulatory agencies; the EAC's bipartisan-by-statute structure puts it in a different category.

The FEMA requirements will end up in court. Former DOJ election attorney David Becker expects them to be "blocked in the courts." Judges have already blocked DHS from using the SAVE database to remove voters from state rolls, struck down Trump's election executive order on constitutional grounds, and — in December 2025 — a Trump-appointed judge blocked withholding these same FEMA grants from states that refused immigration enforcement cooperation.

The 120-day timeline is unworkable. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — a Republican who certified Biden's 2020 win — estimated that switching to hand-marked paper ballots alone would cost his state $66 million. About 30% of U.S. voters live in jurisdictions that use the systems the rule would eliminate. No state has sued yet.

Where This Lands

The administration fired the EAC's commissioners and tied counter-terrorism money to election rule changes in the same week — four months before the 2026 midterms. The White House says both moves are legal under recent Supreme Court precedent and necessary for election security. Democratic governors and congressional leaders say the FEMA conditions hold public safety money hostage over election politics, and that dismantling a bipartisan watchdog before an election is unprecedented. Election law experts say courts are the likely venue for resolution — judges have blocked three similar DHS funding conditions across the political spectrum. The July 24 grant application deadline is the first forcing function: states will have to signal whether they'll comply, refuse, or sue.

Sources