Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

Committee leaders warned FEC and EAC officials about dangers of Trump’s Executive Order on administering elections and managing money in politics

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and U.S. Representative Joe Morelle (N.Y.-25), Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, expressed serious concerns about the dangerous implications for elections following President Trump’s executive order purporting to bring independent regulatory agencies under total control of the White House. 

The lawmakers warned officials at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Election Assistance Commission (EAC) of the dangers this unprecedented order could pose to administering elections, managing the influx of money in politics, and investigating any political interference of President Trump’s potentially corrupt campaign finance practices.

“That the President would fire Chair Weintraub, hampering the efficiency and efficacy of the FEC at a time when the agency is reviewing several open matters against his campaign and his close associates, suggests the President is seeking to disrupt any investigation into his potentially corrupt campaign finance practices,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter to FEC leadership. “Today, as the nation again faces a staggering surge of money in politics and billionaires in government, we urge you to follow the law as enacted by Congress in the face of these unprecedented attempts at political interference in the FEC’s mission.”

“We urge you to follow the law as enacted by Congress and protect the EAC’s mission,” added the lawmakers in their letter to EAC leadership. “As you know, the law cannot be superseded by an EO which places the EAC under the control of the Trump White House — cutting against its founding principles and opening the door to corrupt political interference in the EAC and the state election systems it supports.”

The lawmakers expressed particular concern given the Trump Administration’s pattern of disregarding and abusing the laws and procedures surrounding independent federal agencies in order to serve his agenda. They highlighted President Trump’s recent unprecedented and illegal step of firing FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub.

The FEC is an independent, bipartisan agency tasked with enforcing U.S. campaign finance laws. In the 50 years since it was created — in the wake of the Watergate scandal — a commissioner had never been fired by the President before Chair Weintraub. The EAC was created over 20 years ago in the bipartisan Help America Vote Act and was designed to preserve independence from political interference by serving election officials. Election officials across political backgrounds rely on the EAC’s assistance and resources to smoothly and securely administer elections.

The lawmakers also warned FEC and EAC leadership that the implementation of President Trump’s executive order risks the loss of critical safeguards against dangerous executive requests directing them to target particular candidates, individuals, or organizations.

Last week, Ranking Members Padilla and Morelle pressed senior officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for answers after reporting indicated employees who previously worked on election misinformation and disinformation issues were placed on administrative leave. Padilla denounced the illegal firing of FEC Chair Weintraub and led 10 Democratic Senators to demand President Trump rescind this decision. 

Full text of the letters to FEC and EAC leadership is available here and here, respectively. Letter text is also included below:

FEC Letter

Dear Vice Chairman Trainor, and Commissioners Broussard, Dickerson, and Lindenbaum:

We write today to express our alarm over President Trump’s February 18 Executive Order (EO) “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” and the dangerous impact it may have on the work of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This Order quickly followed the President’s unprecedented firing of Chair Ellen Weintraub and serves as another example of this Administration’s disregard for the laws and procedures that ensure federal agencies work as Congress intended. The FEC was created over 50 years ago in the wake of the Watergate Scandal when Congress took steps to weed out political corruption by creating an agency independent of the politicians it would regulate. That the President would fire Chair Weintraub, hampering the efficiency and efficacy of the FEC at a time when the agency is reviewing several open matters against his campaign and his close associates, suggests the President is seeking to disrupt any investigation into his potentially corrupt campaign finance practices. 

Today, as the nation again faces a staggering surge of money in politics and billionaires in government, we urge you to follow the law as enacted by Congress in the face of these unprecedented attempts at political interference in the FEC’s mission. As you know, the law cannot be superseded by an EO which attempts to place the bipartisan FEC under the control of the Trump White House – cutting against its founding principles. This unprecedented EO makes clear that the President seeks to illegally misuse the FEC and other regulatory agencies as a tool for his agenda – opening the door to the very corruption this agency was designed to combat.

We oppose plans by the Commission to take action in response to this EO and have great concerns that there is no clear way for the FEC to reach decisions on these matters given its bipartisan and independent structure. If it were to be implemented, the FEC would lose safeguards against the President directing the Commission to pursue enforcement actions against particular candidates, individuals or organizations. By submitting regulatory actions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the White House would also gain influence over the Commission’s bipartisan regulatory agenda, impacting the ability to respond to petitions and undertake rulemakings in a fair and bipartisan manner. 

Further, it would be unacceptable for a Chair – or Vice Chair – to submit a strategic plan alone, with a new Chair submitting a new plan each year. If implemented, the EO would also seem to mandate Commissioners hire “White House Liaison” staff from the opposing party and allow access for the U.S. DOGE Service to gain access to the Commission’s office, systems and make decisions about its operations. Finally, it would completely subvert the mission of the FEC if the OMB Director were able to adjust its budget to advance the President’s priorities, layoff staff, and limit the ability to enforce campaign finance laws or the FEC were to be required to ask permission of the Attorney General before the release of any advisory opinion. 

Sincerely, 

EAC Letter

Dear Chairman Palmer, Vice Chairman Hicks, and Commissioners McCormick and Hovland:

We write today to express our alarm over President Trump’s February 18 Executive Order (EO) “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” and the impact it may have on the work of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). While the bipartisan EAC is not a regulatory agency, we seek answers as to what actions, if any, the EAC is planning in response to this EO which seeks to illegally misuse independent agencies as a tool for his agenda. We believe that the EAC should take note that this EO follows the President’s unlawful encroachment into other independent agencies, including the removal of leadership at the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Election Commission, and the Office of Government Ethics, and serves as another example of this Administration’s disregard for the laws and procedures that ensure federal agencies work as Congress intended.

The EAC was created over 20 years ago in the bipartisan Help America Vote Act and was designed to preserve independence from political interference. Election officials—nonpartisan and across the political spectrum—rely on the helpful assistance and resources that the EAC provides to ensure the successful administration of elections. The EAC is also entrusted with critical responsibilities such as certifying election equipment. We urge you to follow the law as enacted by Congress and protect the EAC’s mission. As you know, the law cannot be superseded by an EO which places the EAC under the control of the Trump White House – cutting against its founding principles and opening the door to corrupt political interference in the EAC and the state election systems it supports. 

We oppose plans by the EAC to take action in response to this EO and have great concerns that there is no clear way for the EAC to reach decisions on these matters given its bipartisan and independent structure. If it were to be implemented, the EAC would lose safeguards against the President directing its guidance, resources, or other actions in favor of a particular political party, candidate, or other entity. It would subvert the mission of the EAC if the Office of Management and Budget Director were able to adjust its budget to advance the President’s priorities and layoff staff. If implemented, the EO would also seem to mandate Commissioners hire “White House Liaison” staff from the opposing party and allow access for the U.S. DOGE Service to gain access to the Commission’s office, systems and make decisions about its operations. Finally, it would completely subvert the mission of the EAC if it were required to ask permission of the Attorney General before the release of any funding advisory opinions. 

Sincerely,

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