This latest move by the president smashes through longstanding safeguards. It’s too early to tell the full scale of the impact of Trump’s actions. Weintraub was set to help decide dozens of complaints related to the 2024 elections, including not only complaints against Trump and Musk, who spent nearly $300 million to help the president get elected, but also complaints Trump himself filed against Kamala Harris and various media outlets such as The Washington Post and CBS News. How those matters are resolved could depend on who fills her seat and the seat of a GOP commissioner who recently resigned.
In her post on X announcing the president’s attempt to fire her, Weintraub noted that it was illegal. She has a strong argument given the FEC’s structure and Congress’s clear intent that the commission be independent and insulated from partisan weaponization. At least one other Democratic commissioner at an independent agency who Trump purported to fire has already sued.
Legality aside, firing Weintraub without going through the process of choosing a successor with input from Congress looks like an attempt to subvert the FEC at a critical moment. It could potentially lay the foundation to weaponize the agency against the president’s enemies while stifling any effort to pursue his friends and allies. This is only the latest action to strip away longstanding guardrails — others include firing other heads of independent agencies, the apparently illegal firing of at least 17 agency inspectors general (independent officials who monitor for waste, fraud, and abuse), and the appointment of extreme partisans to critical law enforcement roles at the Department of Justice and other agencies.