The head of a federal commission tasked with helping US states protect election systems from cyberattacks by Russia or others is being replaced.

House Speaker Paul Ryan is behind the move, and his spokeswoman said the change was routine.

The action raises fresh questions over the degree to which President Donald Trump and Republicans who control Congress are taking steps to protect the security of American elections.



WASHINGTON — The head of a federal commission who has helped US states protect election systems from possible cyberattacks by Russia or others is being replaced at the behest of the Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House.

Matthew Masterson, a member of the US Election Assistance Commission who serves as its chairman, has been passed over for a second four-year term as one of the agency's four commissioners.

"The appointment expired in December and we are going in a different direction for our nomination. We nominate people for a variety of positions and generally speaking choose our own folks," AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said by email on Thursday.

Strong rejected the notion that Masterson was being removed or shoved aside, characterizing the change as routine.

The commissioner post that Masterson, a former Ohio state official, holds is picked by the House speaker and formally nominated by the president. The three other commissioners are recommended by other congressional leaders.

Masterson has been popular among state election officials, many of whom have praised his expertise and leadership on cybersecurity issues and expressed chagrin at his pending departure. Congress created the agency in 2002 to assist states in complying with federal election standards.

The action raises fresh questions over the degree to which President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress are taking steps to protect the security of American elections, and some state officials have accused them of doing too little to address the threat.

US voters in November will go to the polls in midterm elections that American intelligence officials have warned could be targeted by Russia or others seeking to disrupt the process.

There is intense scrutiny of the security of US election systems after a 2016 presidential race in which Russia has been accused of trying to help Trump win with presidency. Trump in the past has been publicly skeptical about Russian election meddling.

Some Republicans over the years have sought to eliminate or reduce the Election Assistance Commission, arguing that it represents a federal overreach into the role of states in running elections.

Masterson originally was picked by John Boehner, a Republican and fellow Ohioan who was then House speaker, and nominated by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, before being confirmed unanimously by the US Senate in 2014.

A White House spokeswoman declined to comment. Masterson also declined to comment.

Masterson is expected to remain a commissioner until his replacement is chosen by Ryan, formally nominated by Trump, and confirmed by the Senate. He already was due to give up his rotating chairmanship this month.

'Pretty remarkable'

Trump voting at his local polling station in New York's primary on April 19, 2016, in New York City. Getty Images/Spencer Platt

Masterson has spent the past year as the commission's chairman, focusing largely on election cybersecurity, state election officials said. Twenty-one states experienced probing of their systems by Russian hackers during the 2016 election, according to US officials.

Though a small number of networks were compromised, voting machines were not directly affected and there remains no evidence any vote was altered, according to US officials and security experts.

"It is pretty remarkable that in this environment, given the importance of this issue, that the speaker would choose this moment to not reappoint the person doing the most work in this area," said Judd Choate, Colorado's election director and the immediate past president of the National Association of State Election Directors.

The commission was formed after the 2000 US presidential election, won by Republican George W. Bush, came down to disputed paper ballots cast in Florida. Its responsibilities include maintaining voluntary guidelines for voting systems, including cybersecurity standards, that most states use when purchasing new voting equipment.

Since the 2016 election, almost all 50 states have taken steps to purchase more secure equipment, expand the use of paper ballots, improve cybertraining or seek federal assistance, according to groups that track election security.

US intelligence officials have described the targeting of state election systems as part of a wide-ranging effort by Moscow that also included propaganda efforts and hacking to sow discord during the 2016 campaign, boost Trump, and disparage his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

The special counsel Robert Mueller's office last Friday indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies it accused of involvement in a criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper with the 2016 election.

Under law, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate and the House each recommend one commissioner to be nominated by the president to fill the agency's four spots. The Republican-led House Administration Committee last year passed a measure that would terminate the agency on the grounds that it has outlived its usefulness.