Democratic chairwoman of Federal Election Commission challenges Trump's ‘effective immediately’ firing of her

Ellen L. Weintraub, chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), maintained Thursday that Donald Trump had informed her of her dismissal "effective immediately." The Democratic chairwoman, however, vowed to put up a fight.

The FEC is an independent regulatory agency that monitors compliance with campaign finance laws. It has more than 300 employees, led by six commissioners. Three of the latter are aligned with the Republican party, the other three with the Democrats.

Weintraub remains in office despite the fact that her term ended in 2007. Although terms last six years, commissioners can choose to stay on until their replacement is appointed, according to the FEC. The latter is done by the president, whose nominee must be confirmed by the Senate.

In going public with her firing, the chairwoman argued that Trump's decision was illegal: "There’s a legal way to replace FEC commissioners -this isn’t it." "I’ve been lucky to serve the American people & stir up some good trouble along the way. That’s not changing anytime soon."

Prior to joining the agency, Weintraub worked as an attorney and advised members of Congress. During her 20-plus years at the FEC, she was combative with Republicans and Trump, especially lashing out at claims of irregularities in the 2020 election.

"In claiming to fire a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, the president violates the law, the separation of powers, and generations of Supreme Court precedent," opined Trevor Potter, a former Republican chairman of the agency. "Trump is free to nominate multiple new commissioners and to allow Congress to perform its constitutional role of advice and consent," he argued, but 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."

"Commissioner Weintraub’s term expired April 30, 2007: the year Madeleine McCann disappeared, Bob Barker hosted his final episode of The Price is Right, and Facebook and Twitter (now X) went global," noted the Institute for Free Speech. David Keating, president of the think tank, wrote "for context," that Weintraub "currently illegally serving as chair of the FEC. … She should not have sought the office."

The White House, for the time being, did not comment on the reports.