Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub is refusing to leave her post after she received a letter from President Donald Trump telling her she was fired.
Weintraub took to social media to share the letter and claims she is not leaving her position because the notice is not legal.
“Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner & Chair of @FEC,” Weintraub said in a post on X. “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.”
Weintraub showed the letter in her social media post. “You are hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately,” the White House letter dated Jan. 31 says. “Thank you for your service on the Commission.”
On the FEC, Weintraub is one of three Democrats, followed by two Republicans and an open seat.
Some people believe that Trump’s decision to fire more than a dozen inspectors general in his first week in office was illegal. It led to a letter from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asking him to explain the actions and why he failed to alert Congress.
From the beginning of the Trump administration, the goal has been to reform a significant amount of the federal government. The actions have been widely denounced by Democrats, and shortly after she posted the letter, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) responded.
“Trump’s political purge continues with this illegal dismissal of Democrat Ellen Weintraub from the FEC,” he stated on X.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has spearheaded a significant amount of government reforms, with the goal of drastically reducing government expenditures. As a result, it is anticipated that numerous government jobs will be eliminated in the upcoming months.
This came on the same day that two Democrats — Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) — unexpectedly stormed into House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office, challenging him over Elon Musk’s team’s access to a Treasury Department payment system.
Their intrusion occurred soon after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived at the speaker’s office to discuss how to carry out President Donald Trump’s tax agenda, amid a growing Democratic backlash against Musk’s takeover of the federal government.
Moore, however, claimed that when she and Chu confronted Johnson, Bessent was not present, Politico reported.
“Gwen Moore forced her way in there, and then I got to go in right behind her,” Chu told reporters. “And she was already confronting Speaker Johnson about Treasury Secretary Bessent and the stealing of Americans’ private information, tax information that should never be stolen and given to this billionaire Elon Musk.”
Last weekend, Bessent provided access to the payments system to members of Musk’s alleged Department of Government Efficiency while in Johnson’s office meeting with House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.). Trillions of dollars in tax refunds, Social Security payments, and numerous other government operations are managed by the system.
Musk’s team currently has “read-only” access to the system, the Treasury Department informed lawmakers on Tuesday, and their review “is not resulting” in any delays or suspensions of federal agency-approved disbursements.
Chu’s and Moore’s actions were condemned by a witness to the incident at Johnson’s office.
“In the face of incredibly rude, extremely aggressive and frankly unhinged behavior, the Speaker was more than gracious and allowed the members into his personal office to hear their concerns,” said the person, who asked not to be named to freely discuss the matter.
A spokesperson for Chu tried to claim that was not an accurate portrayal.
“She never barged, or shoved her way, into anything. She politely joined the meeting already occurring and the Speaker invited her in for a brief, civil discussion. The Secretary was not present, and she left immediately afterwards,” said Chu’s communication director, Graeme Crews, in a statement.
Leave a Reply