Amendment to Executive Order 13639

This executive order amends the membership criteria of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration (established by EO 13639) by removing a previous requirement that members be selected from lists provided by congressional party leaders. Instead, the President now has sole discretion to appoint up to ten members, including election administrators, business representatives with customer service experience, and other individuals the President deems valuable.

Federal Register Open PDF 78 FR 31813

Key directives

Strike subsection 2(a) of EO 13639 in its entirety
Replace with new subsection 2(a) specifying President appoints not more than ten members
Members drawn from: election administration experts, customer service-oriented business representatives, and other individuals President determines valuable

Timeline

Immediate

Amendment takes effect upon signing; previous subsection 2(a) of EO 13639 is struck and replaced

Near term (90d)

President may appoint new or additional commission members under revised criteria

Long term

Commission operations continue under modified membership structure until completion or further action

Risks & tensions

Removes bipartisan/congressional input mechanism for commission membership, concentrating appointment authority solely with President—text does not specify whether this was previously required
Vague phrase 'any other individuals with knowledge or experience determined by the President to be of value' grants broad discretionary authority
No expiration date or reporting deadline specified in this amendment; original EO 13639 terms govern operational timeline