Topline
Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub said on X she received a letter from President Donald Trump informing her that she was being removed from office, as she questioned the legal validity of the move and signaled her intent to fight the removal—amid a push by the Trump administration to purge several government officials.
U.S. Federal Election Commission Commissioner Ellen Weintraub testifies on Capitol Hill in … [+]
Key Facts
In her X post, Weintraub shared the screenshot of a letter from Trump, dated Jan. 31, informing her that she was “hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately.”
Weintraub said she received the letter on Thursday, before noting: “There’s a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn’t it.”
The FEC chair then signaled her intent to challenge Trump’s efforts to remove her, saying she has been “lucky to serve the American people & stir up some good trouble along the way,” and that was “not changing anytime soon.”
Weintraub, a Democrat, was elected as the chair of the FEC in December, while James Trainor, a Republican, was elected vice chair.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., criticized the move and also questioned its legal validity in a post on X: “Trump’s political purge continues with this illegal dismissal of Democrat Ellen Weintraub from the FEC.”
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What Do We Know About The Fec’s Structure?
According to the agency’s website, the FEC is led by six commissioners appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. “By law, no more than three Commissioners can represent the same political party, and at least four votes are required for any official Commission action. This structure was created to encourage nonpartisan decisions,” the agency’s website says. The agency presently has three Democratic and two Republican commissioners, with one seat vacant.
Chief Critic
In a lengthy thread on X, former FEC chair and George H.W. Bush appointee, Trevor Potter said Trump’s firing of Weintraub was illegal. He wrote: “In claiming to fire a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, the president violates the law, the separation of powers and generations of Supreme Court precedent…As the only agency that regulates the president, Congress intentionally did not grant the president the power to fire FEC commissioners,” Potter wrote.
Further Reading
Federal Election Commission Chair Says Trump Has Moved to Fire Her (New York Times)
Read the full article here