• Home
  • Independent Voter News
  • Quizzes
  • Election Dissection
  • Sections
  • Events
  • Directory
  • About Us
  • Glossary
  • Opinion
  • Campaign Finance
  • Redistricting
  • Civic Ed
  • Voting
  • Fact Check
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. election assistance commission>

Upon further review, election agency budget proposal a wash

Bill Theobald
February 18, 2020
Election Assistance Commission budget

The 2021 budget proposal by President Trump calls for a slight increase in the operating budget for the Election Assistance Commission, according to details of the budget plan.

Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The news about the Election Assistance Commission in President Trump's new budget isn't so bad after all.

On first blush, it appeared the EAC was not going to get any help in trying to rebuild itself from a series of budget cutbacks and staff turnover. After all, the bottom line in the budget proposal released last week was a proposed cut of $2.1 million, or 14 percent, from this year's $15.2 million in spending.

But, the agency points out, if you look at the fine print, the operating budget being proposed is actually slightly higher than the current year's operating budget.


All of this is important because, while tiny compared to most other parts of the government, the EAC's job is huge: It is the lead federal agency overseeing the process and security of all the elections for the president and Congress, which are actually conducted by the states and several thousand of counties and municipalities. The job has become even more critical with the 2016 hacking attempts by Russian operatives and predictions of even more sophisticated and extensive election security challenges this time.

Here is how the math works: The $15.2 million budget for the current year includes $2.4 million for relocating the EAC offices, which are now in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Md. In addition, another $1.5 million must be transferred to the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the work it's doing on setting voluntary new guidelines for voting machines.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The budget proposal for next year assumes another transfer to NIST but not any special real estate costs, leaving $11.6 million to operate the agency — which would represent a slightly-better-than-inflationary boost of 2.6 percent above the current operating budget.

The detailed budget calls for spending $5.2 million for salaries and benefits, an 11 percent increase, which would allow the creation of two new positions for a total staff of 32. Other expenses, including travel, would be cut by 3 percent to $7.9 million.

Of course, Congress will have the final say on all aspects of the federal budget, including that of the EAC. The House Appropriations Committee will begin reviewing Trump's proposal early next month.

From Your Site Articles
  • The 13 states where election security matters most - The Fulcrum ›
  • Election assistance agency says it's way short of manpower and ... ›
  • Election Assistance Commission struggles to recover - The Fulcrum ›
  • Two two positions filled at federal election agency - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • US Election Assistance Commission: eac.gov ›
  • What the Election Assistance Commission needs in its next leaders ... ›
election assistance commission

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

How a college freshman led the effort to honor titans of democracy reform

Jeremy Garson

Our poisonous age of absolutism

Jay Paterno

Re-imagining Title IX: An opportunity to flex our civic muscles

Lisa Kay Solomon

'Independent state legislature theory' is unconstitutional

Daniel O. Jamison

How afraid are we?

Debilyn Molineaux

Politicians certifying election results is risky and unnecessary

Kevin Johnson
latest News

How the anti-abortion movement shaped campaign finance law and paved the way for Trump

Amanda Becker, The 19th
10h

Podcast: Journalist and political junkie Ken Rudin

Our Staff
12h

A study in contrasts: Low-turnout runoffs vs. Alaska’s top-four, all-mail primary

David Meyers
23 June

Video: Team Democracy Urges Citizens to Sign SAFE Pledge

Our Staff
23 June

Podcast: Past, present, future

Our Staff
23 June

Video: America's vulnerable elections

Our Staff
22 June
Videos

Video: Memorial Day 2022

Our Staff

Video: Helping loved ones divided by politics

Our Staff

Video: What happened in Virginia?

Our Staff

Video: Infrastructure past, present, and future

Our Staff

Video: Beyond the headlines SCOTUS 2021 - 2022

Our Staff

Video: Should we even have a debt limit

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Did economists move the Democrats to the right?

Our Staff
02 May

Podcast: The future of depolarization

Our Staff
11 February

Podcast: Sore losers are bad for democracy

Our Staff
20 January

Deconstructed Podcast from IVN

Our Staff
08 November 2021
Recommended
Bridge Alliance intern Sachi Bajaj speaks at the June 12 Civvy Awards.

How a college freshman led the effort to honor titans of democracy reform

Leadership
abortion law historian Mary Ziegler

How the anti-abortion movement shaped campaign finance law and paved the way for Trump

Campaign Finance
Podcast: Journalist and political junkie Ken Rudin

Podcast: Journalist and political junkie Ken Rudin

Media
Abortion rights and anti-abortion protestors at the Supreme Court

Our poisonous age of absolutism

Big Picture
Virginia primary voter

A study in contrasts: Low-turnout runoffs vs. Alaska’s top-four, all-mail primary

Video: Team Democracy Urges Citizens to Sign SAFE Pledge

Video: Team Democracy Urges Citizens to Sign SAFE Pledge

Voting