by Kevin Killough
The Trump administration has fired two members of the Election Assistance Commission, and it accepted the resignation of the final remaining member.
President Donald Trump removed Thomas Hicks (pictured above, left) and Benjamin Hovland (pictured above, right)— both were selected by congressional Democrats — and accepted the resignation of Republican member, Christy McCormick (pictured above, center). The fourth member resigned last spring, the New York Times reported.
A White House official said in a statement that the firings were part of the Trump administration’s strategy to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse. The president reserves the right to remove individuals who aren’t aligned “with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted,” the official said.
The official supported the statement with recent Supreme Court rulings that found Trump has the authority to fire most independent regulators for any reason.
Last year, Trump issued an executive order that called on the Election Assistance Commission to require people to show government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The order also directed state and local officials to verify the information and count ballots by Election Day. A judge blocked the order, ruling Trump exceeded his authority.
The president is still attempting to get the SAVE America Act passed despite resistance in Congress.
On Friday, Trump said on Truth Social that he would not be signing a housing bill until the SAVE America Act becomes law.
“I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, which is polling at 97% with the Republican Party, and very high with the non-politician Dumocrats. The Act states, quite simply, that to Vote a person must show PHOTO VOTER I.D., PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP, AND THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE CROOKED, CORRUPT, & DESTABILIZING MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPTIONS for Military, Disabled, Illness, and Travel!),” Trump said.
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Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
