FEC commish Ellen Weintraub refuses to leave office after Trump fires her

In a letter dated January 31, President Donald Trump removed Ellen Weintraub from her position as Commissioner and Chair of the US Federal Election Commission (FEC). However, Weintraub is refusing to leave office.

Weintraub posted an image of the letter from Trump on Thursday. “Dear Commissioner Weintraub,” the letter from the president stated, “You are hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission effective immediately.”

Weintraub posted about the memo, saying, “Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner & Chair of FEC.” She then accused Trump of breaking the law and said she had a chance to make some “good trouble” during her time at the organization.

“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,” she added.

Weintraub had been vocal in criticizing Trump before. In 2019, she openly condemned his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud, which she argued were harmful to democracy. Appearing on CNN, she called Trump’s allegations "damaging" and insisted there was no proof to support his claims.

Since assuming office on January 20, Trump has made sweeping changes to the government to shrink its size and cut down on waste. Some of these actions have included offering buyouts to federal employees to resign, cutting out DEI programs across the federal government, or paring down the size of USAID. Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has indicated that these actions will also not be slowing down anytime soon.