Tag

#independent agencies

3 incidents

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Trump Removes Every Remaining Election Assistance Commissioner Months Before the Midterms (July 2026)

Trump emptied the Election Assistance Commission, the only federal agency dedicated solely to election administration, firing its two Democratic commissioners by email and accepting the Republican's resignation. The White House said the firings were authorized by the Supreme Court's new removal-power ruling. The agency cannot update voting-system guidelines or take other formal votes until new commissioners are confirmed. It had been sitting on a pending demand, pressed by Trump's 2025 election order, to require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal registration form.

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Supreme Court Overturns Humphrey's Executor, Lets Trump Fire FTC Commissioner — But Blocks Fed Governor Firing (June 2026)

The Supreme Court overturned Humphrey's Executor, upholding Trump's March 2025 firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter (Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya was removed at the same time) in a 6-3 ruling. The Court's holding is a constitutional ruling, not conduct by Trump, and it makes the Slaughter removal lawful. The conduct this entry documents is the attempted removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on a mortgage-fraud allegation she says was pretextual retaliation over rate policy; a 5-4 companion decision the same day blocked that removal while her suit proceeds.

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Firing the BLS Commissioner Over a Weak Jobs Report

Trump fired the head of the federal agency that produces the jobs and inflation numbers on the day it published bad news for him, accusing her without evidence of rigging the data. The commissioner had no statutory protection from removal, but removing a chief statistician for unwelcome numbers attacks the independence of official statistics.