Former U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to remove Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Chair Ellen Weintraub, but she maintains she will not comply, deeming the directive legally invalid. Weintraub received a letter dated January 31, purportedly signed by Trump, instructing her removal from the commission, effective immediately. Weintraub, who has served as a commissioner since 2002 and has been in holdover status since her term expired in 2007, argues that the letter constitutes an unlawful attempt to remove her from office.
Federal Elections Commission Commissioner and Chair Ellen Weintraub disclosed on Thursday that former U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to remove her from the commission, but she asserted her refusal to comply, characterizing the directive as legally invalid. Weintraub shared a letter on X, formerly known as Twitter, that stated: 'You are hereby removed as a member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately.
Thank you for your service on the Commission,' seemingly bearing Trump's signature. The letter was dated January 31, but Weintraub indicated in her accompanying post that she received it on Thursday. 'There's a legal way to replace FEC commissioners—this isn't it. I've been lucky to serve the American people and stir up some good trouble along the way. That's not changing anytime soon,' wrote Weintraub, who has been a commissioner at the independent regulatory agency responsible for enforcing federal campaign finance law since 2002. She was elected to chair the commission for 2025. The FEC consists of six commissioners, requiring at least four for a quorum. FEC commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, with the Federal Election Campaign Act establishing six-year terms for commission members. However, commissioners can remain in their positions after their terms expire in 'holdover' status until the president nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement commissioner, according to the Congressional Research Service. This applies to Weintraub, whose term ended in 2007, but she has continued serving in holdover status. Weintraub has also been a key strategist behind a strategy by Democratic commissioners to induce more deadlock on the commission, aiming to compel federal courts to intervene and oversee federal election law, according to The New York Times. Daniel Weiner, the director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center policy institute, wrote: 'In the entire history of the bipartisan FEC no president has ever removed a commissioner from the opposing party without nominating a successor recommended by that party's leaders in Congress.' 'This is an extraordinary break from that history, and there are strong arguments that it violates long-established federal law governing independent agencies.' Trevor Potter, a Republican former chair of the FEC and the current president of Campaign Legal Center, stated in a Thursday release that Congress deliberately did not grant the president the authority to remove FEC commissioners. 'With multiple FEC commissioners serving on expired terms and one vacant seat, Trump is free to nominate multiple new commissioners and to allow Congress to perform its constitutional role of advice and consent,' he wrote. He added: 'It's contrary to law that he has instead opted to claim to 'fire' a single Democratic commissioner who has been an outspoken critic of the president's lawbreaking and of the FEC's failure to hold him accountable.' In 2020, Weintraub authored a lengthy social media thread aimed at refuting some of Trump's claims concerning alleged vote-by-mail voter fraud. Weintraub also told The New York Times that she believes her public statements regarding FEC complaints focused on Trump's presidential campaigns may be the reason she's in the former president's crosshairs.
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION DONALD TRUMP ELLEN WEINTRAUB CAMPAIGN FINANCE INDEPENDENT AGENCY HOLDOVER STATUS FEC COMMISSIONERS
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