CRS Reports the Election Assistance Commission Has No Commissioners: Palmer Left April 30, the Other Three on July 9

Commissioner Donald Palmer resigned from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on April 30, 2026, and on July 9 the remaining three members of the commission were effectively removed, according to the Congressional Research Service. Commissioners Hicks and Hovland were notified of their dismissals by email, and Commissioner Christy McCormick was permitted to resign. The departures leave the EAC without a three-member “quorum” for the third time since 2003. Action on activities HAVA authorizes the commission to conduct requires approval by at least three commissioners. Roll Call reported the next day: “The commission is currently without any confirmed members.” The EAC’s own press release announced that Palmer will be departing the agency on April 30.

Context: this entry records the standing condition, a commission with no one to vote, as a separate fact from the firings, which are covered in 2026-07-10–trump-fires-eac-commissioners-hicks-hovland-after-humphreys-executor and 2026-07-09–trump-purges-election-assistance-commission-save-act-backdoor. The EAC Commissioners page, as fetched, lists no sitting commissioners under a ‘Former Commissioners’ heading, but its name list does not load in static HTML, so this entry relies on CRS.