Trump removed FEC Chair Weintraub without cause, asserting presidential removal power the agency's statute does not grant

On January 31, 2025, President Trump sent Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub a letter stating "You are hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately." The 25-word letter cited no cause and offered no statutory basis for the removal. The White House Office of Presidential Personnel transmitted the letter via email on February 6, 2025; Weintraub's access to FEC email, computer, and cellphone was revoked the following day.

The FEC is an independent, bipartisan agency Congress deliberately shielded from at-will presidential removal. Its governing statute — the Federal Election Campaign Act — grants commissioners six-year terms and includes no presidential removal power; no prior president had invoked one. Under the FEC's own rules, a commissioner whose term has expired may continue to serve in a holdover capacity until a Senate-confirmed successor is installed. Weintraub's term had expired in April 2007, but she remained lawfully in place because no replacement had been nominated. Republican former FEC Chair Trevor Potter, who now leads the Campaign Legal Center, said the removal was "contrary to law" and violated "the separation of powers and Supreme Court precedent." Weintraub disputed the removal as unlawful and continued to assert her right to serve.

The FEC is the only federal agency that regulates the president directly, enforcing campaign finance law covering presidential campaigns. Weintraub had publicly contradicted Trump's election-fraud claims during his first term, called on him to concede on January 6, 2021, and filed campaign finance complaints against his campaigns. No president had previously attempted to fire a sitting FEC commissioner from the opposing party without cause or congressional consultation.

Updates

October 2025 — FEC lost quorum after Trainor resignation; enforcement work halted [4]

Republican Commissioner Trey Trainor resigned, leaving the FEC with only two commissioners — below the four required for a quorum. The commission's enforcement and rulemaking work ground to a halt. In an NPR interview, Weintraub said Trump fired her "without cause" and "without precedent," and that she had expected to be replaced through the statutory process of nomination and Senate confirmation, not dismissed without a successor.

2025-12-08 — Supreme Court heard oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter (No. 25-332); decision pending

The constitutional question raised by Weintraub's removal is before the Supreme Court in Trump v. Slaughter (No. 25-332), a parallel case involving Trump's firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter; oral argument was heard December 8, 2025, and a decision is pending.