AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump ousted the three remaining commissioners on a bipartisan federal elections board that assists states and municipalities in holding their elections, VoteBeat reported on Thursday night.

Two of the commissioners on the Election Assistance Commission were Democrats, whom Trump fired. The third official, a Republican, was allowed to resign. VoteBeat cited three officials familiar with the matter.

The EAC trains election officials in new voting technology, manages the national mail voter registration form, and oversees a testing and certification program for voting machines, some of which Trump falsely claimed took votes away from him and gave to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Trump falsely maintains the election was rigged against him.

The two Democratic commissioners, Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland were terminated via an email, which was obtained by VoteBeat.

“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” it read.

Republican Christy McCormick resigned.

VoteBeat stated:

The firings leave the four-member commission with no commissioners, meaning it cannot take official action until new members are installed. They also come days after the Supreme Court granted the president power to fire leaders of independent agencies, weakening a legal framework that for decades had insulated bipartisan federal commissions from direct White House control.

The EAC was created by Congress after the 2000 election to help states improve election administration without federalizing elections.Its role is mostly supportive: distributing federal election funds, maintaining the national mail voter registration form, testing and certifying voting systems, and offering best practices and guidance to state and local election officials.

Any new commissioners must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The commission cannot have more than two members of the same party.

The ousters came the week after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 91-year-old case that had limited the president’s ability to remove members of independent federal boards.

Trump has urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote and present photo identification when voting.

“We do that, we’re not gonna lose an election for a hundred years,” Trump said during an Independence Day speech.

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