President Donald Trump moved this week to fire Democrat Ellen Weintraub, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission.
“Today I received a letter from Potus to remove me as @Fec’s commissioner & chairman. There is a legal way to replace the FEC commissioner – this is not the case.” Weintraub wrote on x Thursday. “I was lucky enough to serve the Americans and stir up some good trouble along the way. That won’t change anytime soon.”
Weintraub seats are available on the FEC website as of Friday morning. However, in an interview Friday, she argued that her removal was illegal.
“I’m not aware of any FEC commissioners who have been fired so far,” Weintrob said. “There’s nothing in the federal election campaign law that suggests it’s an option.”
The committee is designed to have six members and does not have fewer than three members from any party. Before the obvious removal of Weintraub, the agency had three Democrats and two Republicans, but former chairman Shaun Cooksey joined Vice President JD Vance’s office as an attorney.
weintraub is one of a A group of commissioners who served after the conditions expiredmembers are permitted to remain until the substitution is confirmed by the Senate. She was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, and her term ended in 2007, with Trump not nominating any replacements.
Weintraub said the holdover status was written by Congress “with an eye toward protecting the institution from political interference.”
The committee needs at least four members to function. Two times during Trump’s first term, the board fell to three members and failed to enforce election laws. Weintraub said her removal would put the committee on the brink of dormant without a vote quorum.
Since releasing her statement online, Weintrobe said she had never heard of the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A FEC spokesman declined to comment when asked if Weintraub was still on the committee, and the FEC announced Thursday morning that the meeting, which will be held on February 13th, had been cancelled.
The group advocating strict campaign finance regulations and enforcement has quickly criticised Trump’s attempts to fire committee members.
“When arguing that he will fire a member of the Federal Election Commission, the president violates the generation of law, separation of powers and precedents in the Supreme Court,” said former Republican chairman of the FEC and chairman of the Campaign Legal Center. Trevor Potter is said in a statement. “With multiple FEC commissioners on expired conditions and one vacant seat, Trump is free to nominate multiple new commissioners, allowing Congress to carry out the constitutional role of advice and consent. Masu.”
Weintraub said it will fully support being replaced as long as it is done properly. “I absolutely believe in following the law,” she said.
