They Just Fired the Referee
Trump gutted the one bipartisan board that helps keep elections fair… right before the midterms. Here's what it means, in plain English.
They Just Fired the Referee
Trump gutted the one bipartisan board that helps keep elections fair… right before the midterms. Here's what it means, in plain English.
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #963: Friday, July 10th, 2026.
Let’s make this simple.
Every election needs a referee. Someone neutral… standing at the center of the field… making sure the game is fair for both teams.
Yesterday, that referee got fired.
President Trump removed the last Democratic members of a small…dull-sounding federal board called the Election Assistance Commission. Most people have never heard of it. That’s exactly why this is worth your attention…because the moves that matter most are usually the ones made quietly…in the parts of government no one is watching.
So…let’s watch.
What actually happened
The Election Assistance Commission is a bipartisan board created in 2002, after the mess of the 2000 election…to help the country run elections better. Both parties at the table. On purpose. By law.
It does unglamorous but important work. It sets voting-system standards. It helps state and local officials actually carry out elections. And…it maintains the national voter registration form…including the form millions of Americans use to register to vote by mail.
On Thursday…Trump fired the two remaining Democrats on it. The lone Republican resigned.
And…just like that… a board designed to be shared by both sides answers to only one.
One team now controls the referee.
Notice the pattern
Here’s where it stops being about one obscure commission…and starts being about a strategy.
The same administration that just seized control of the election board has spent years insisting…without evidence…that voting by mail is riddled with fraud.
And that very same week…the Postmaster General announced the Postal Service will stop delivering mail ballots in states that refuse to hand the federal government sensitive data about their own voters. (the Postal Service move is a proposed rule that a judge blocked)
Read those two things back to back.
Take over the board that oversees mail voter registration…then threaten to choke off mail ballot delivery itself.
That’s not a coincidence. That’s a sequence.
Why this lands hardest on Democrats
Now the part that matters for the midterms.
Democrats vote by mail more than Republicans do. It’s not close. So anything that makes mail voting slower…harder…more confusing…or less reliable…does not hit both teams equally. It hits Democratic turnout the hardest.
That’s the whole point. When you can’t win a fair game…you change the rules of the game. And the surest way to win an election…is to quietly shape who gets to vote…and how…long before a single ballot is cast.
An election board controlled by one side…a Postal Service being turned into a pressure tool…a relentless campaign to make the method Democrats rely on sound suspect. None of these is a headline that screams. Together…they’re a machine.
The bigger danger… the one nobody’s talking about
Here’s the part that should concern you no matter which party you belong to.
To justify the firings, the White House pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision… one that said the President can remove members of supposedly independent boards.
Their argument…boiled down…is chilling in its simplicity: if the President doesn’t like what an independent watchdog is doing…he can just get rid of it.
Think about what that does to the whole idea of a watchdog.
Independent boards exist precisely so they can tell the person in power something he doesn’t want to hear. That independence is the entire point. But…if a referee can be fired the moment he makes a call against the home team…then he was never really a referee at all. He was a suggestion.
Guardrails that can be removed the instant they do their job…aren’t guardrails. And…one by one…that’s exactly what’s happening…to the agencies…the boards…the inspectors…the referees. The structure that’s supposed to protect the fairness of the game…is being disassembled in plain sight.
What they’re counting on
I want to be honest with you about the strategy…because seeing it clearly is half the defense.
They are counting on this being too boring to follow. Too technical. Too many syllables. “Election Assistance Commission” doesn’t trend. It doesn’t make you angry the way a viral clip does. It just sits there…quietly changing who holds the whistle.
They are counting on you being tired. Overwhelmed. Buried under so much daily chaos…that one more story about one more board…simply slides past you, unnoticed.
Exhaustion isn’t a side effect of the flood. For the people running this play…it’s the goal. A confused…worn-down public…is a manageable one.
So the most radical thing you can do is refuse to be either of those things. Not confused. Not worn down. Awake.
What to actually do
Anger with nowhere to go turns into despair… and despair is exactly the surrender they’re hoping for. So let’s turn it into something concrete instead. Here’s what actually moves the needle:
Check your voter registration today.
Not next month. Today. Confirm you’re registered, confirm your address is current… and confirm your status hasn’t quietly changed.
Make a voting plan… and a backup plan.
If you vote by mail…know your state’s rules and deadlines cold…and have a plan to vote in person if the mail route gets sabotaged. Assume nothing about the process will be made easier for you.
Get loud about the boring stuff.
Share this. Explain it at the dinner table. The people running this play need it to stay invisible…so drag it into the light. Make sure the folks around you understand what just happened…because most of them won’t hear about it anywhere else.
Reach people early.
The fight is won before Election Day…not on it. Get to three people this week who still don’t know any of this is happening…and make sure they do.
They fired the referee and hoped you wouldn’t notice.
Notice. Then make sure everyone you know notices too.
That’s how we win this.
#HoldFast
Back soon.
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
P.S. This one went out to everyone…on purpose. Pieces like this only matter if they reach people before the fog does…and that means no paywall. If you want to help keep them coming…and keep them free for the folks who can't chip in…an upgrade to paid is what makes that possible. No pressure. Just gratitude, either way.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Sources
Trump fires the Election Assistance Commission’s remaining Democratic members (Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks; Republican Christy McCormick resigned): The Hill · ProPublica · NBC News · PBS NewsHour· Votebeat
What the Election Assistance Commission is, and the 2002 Help America Vote Act that created it as a bipartisan board: Votebeat · PBS NewsHour
The Supreme Court’s Trump v. Slaughter ruling expanding the president’s power to remove members of independent agencies: PBS NewsHour
The Postal Service proposal to withhold mail ballots from states that won’t hand over voter data (a proposedrule that has drawn multiple lawsuits and was blocked by a federal judge): The Hill · PBS NewsHour · Democracy Docket
Democrats vote by mail at higher rates than Republicans (Pew validated-voter data: 44% of Democratic voters vs. 26% of Republican voters in 2024): Pew Research Center
I restocked and also forwarded to 4 people in hopes they will pay attention. Tis is all part of the plan as you say . Flood the zone. I am listed for a mail ballot here in Florida and they sent an email that they one for the primaries should be here in the next couple weeks. I had deliver to the election office to put in their drop box and then follow up with on check to be sure it is counted.
#HOLDFAST
Teri
I’m in Northern California.. I turned in a mail in ballot.. but I have a ballot tracker.. this greedy Orange Fvckwit will never leave the WH.. we have to flood the midterms to take back our country.
#HOLDFAST