With Midterms Looming, Trump Completes Purge of Election Assistance Commission

President Trump has forced out the last remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan independent agency tasked with certifying voting systems and helping local election officials. On Thursday, the White House fired Democratic commissioners Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland; a third commissioner, Republican Christy McCormick, resigned. The committee’s remaining member, Republican Donald Palmer, stepped down in April to join the Heritage Foundation. Trump’s dismantling of the Election Assistance Commission comes less than four months before midterm elections; it follows last month’s Supreme Court ruling granting the president more power to fire members of ⁠independent agencies. www.democracynow.org