Trump purges an election agency

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump is purging a federal elections commission.

What’s happening? This is not the Federal Election Commission being purged, but rather the Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan agency designed to make elections run more smoothly. The four-member commission was already down to three members before yesterday; then, Trump removed its two Democratic members while the remaining Republican member resigned.

What does the EAC do? In the EAC’s own words, its goal is to “help election officials improve the administration of elections and help Americans participate in the voting process.” Broadly speaking, that means things like certifying voting systems, providing information to state election administrators, and disbursing election security grants.

As Just Security explains, the EAC can still follow through on most of its tasks without Senate-confirmed commissioners in place — but it can’t adopt new policies or update existing ones to respond to new needs.

What’s the context? The dismantling of EAC leadership is a direct consequence of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter, where it ruled that the president has the power to remove appointees at ostensibly independent federal agencies on a whim (with one big Federal Reserve-shaped exception).

As my colleagues Zack Beauchamp and Ian Millhiser wrote at the time, the decision was a big boost to Trump’s power and created a serious threat of politicization of government.

What’s the big picture? US elections are administered at the state level, which limits how much Trump can interfere ahead of the midterms (especially with Congress rebuffing his entreaties to pass the SAVE America Act, which would create new ID restrictions on voting). Removing the EAC’s leadership won’t cause an immediate crisis — but it does remove one more support for state election workers already suffering from burnout, threats, and harassment.

Hi readers, a quick note from me before we log off today: I’ll be out for the next two weeks on vacation, leaving the Logoff in the extremely capable hands of my Vox colleagues. I hope you enjoy the change of pace, and I’ll see you on July 27.

Now, before I go: A fun just-trust-me link from the journalist Hamilton Nolan about exploring the unknown.

Plus, a World Cup thing: Norway and England play tomorrow for a spot in the World Cup semifinal. Here’s a great bit of pre-match reading about Erling Haaland, Norway’s star striker.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!