A Committee Protecting U.S. Elections Is Under Threat

Summary

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Podcast Summary: What A Day

Episode: "A Committee Protecting U.S. Elections Is Under Threat"

Host: Jane Coaston
Guest: Jacob Knudsen (Democracy Docket reporter)
Date: May 4, 2026
Total content runtime summarized: 00:03–09:05 min (main segment)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Jane Coaston investigates a recent move by the Trump administration to obstruct appointments to the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC)—a little-known but crucial federal committee responsible for creating and updating the standards for the voting machines used in U.S. elections. Jane interviews Jacob Knudsen of Democracy Docket to unpack what the committee does, why its expert appointments matter, and what’s at stake for American democracy amid these blocks, particularly as the midterms and the 2028 presidential election approach.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. SCOTUS Ruling and Voting Rights (00:03–01:58)

• The episode opens with a recap of a significant Supreme Court decision striking down a Louisiana congressional map, potentially undermining the power of the Voting Rights Act.
• Republican officials, notably Texas Governor Greg Abbott, claim the decision promotes fairness by preventing "racial discrimination" in the congressional selection process, although critics argue it facilitates the opposite—disempowering minority voters through covert means.
  • Quote – Greg Abbott:
    “The Supreme Court just applied a principle that most Americans already understood…there cannot be racial discrimination. The fact of the matter is, for decades, the Democrats have been using racial discrimination to draw these crazily drawn lines.” [01:27]

2. Introduction to the TGDC Controversy (01:58–03:21)

• Jane lays out the TGDC’s vital role: setting technical standards for voting equipment to ensure fair, secure elections across the U.S.
• She notes that, alarmingly, the Trump administration is blocking new appointments to the TGDC without explanation—risking the security and integrity of future elections.

3. What is the Technical Guidelines Development Committee? (03:10–03:57)

• Jacob Knudsen provides context:
  The TGDC is a “very obscure and technical committee”—but its work is essential. Its members, drawn from several stakeholder groups (election officials, engineers, disability advocates), guide the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in certifying election technology.
  • Quote – Jacob Knudsen:
    “It’s a very obscure and technical committee, but it’s incredibly important to American democracy.” [03:29]

4. The Blocking of Expert Appointments (03:57–05:50)

• Jacob reveals that at a recent Election Assistance Commission (EAC) meeting, officials were “shocked” to learn all pending TGDC appointments were being blocked by the Trump administration, with no explanation.
  • Memorable moment: An official privately described the move as “fucking crazy.” [04:09]
• It’s unclear if the blocks are total or selectively political, but the case of a Democratic New Mexico election official being blocked suggests political motivation.

5. Immediate and Long-Term Consequences (05:50–07:12)

• Short-term: The committee can still function, but only just—a “working quorum by, like, a hair.”
• Long-term: This process violation could undermine inclusive, well-vetted voting machine standards. For example, the law requires disability advocates to be on the committee, but currently there’s zero representation from the US Access Board.
  • Quote – Jacob Knudsen:
    “Developing new voting system standards is a very slow and deliberative process because...even minor changes can have cascading effects that impact voters with specific needs.” [06:33]

6. Unprecedented Partisanship (07:12–08:01)

• Jane and Jacob confirm this type of block is unprecedented in the committee’s 20-year history.
• The ultimate decision authority appears to be high up—possibly the National Institute of Standards and Technology or the Office of the White House Liaison, highlighting direct White House involvement.

7. Trump’s Contradictory Election Strategy (08:01–08:57)

• Despite Trump’s claims that faulty voting machines lost him the 2020 election, he’s now stalling essential updates and expert input for those very machines.
• Jacob calls this “counterproductive”—if you want to fix election integrity, you shouldn’t undermine the expert committee designated for that task.
  • Quote – Jacob Knudsen:
    “If you are gutting the committee that works on this stuff, yeah, it’s very counterintuitive. If your aim is to change the voting machine standards... the EAC will be acting potentially even against the recommendations of this committee. That would be a very bad look.” [08:21]

8. Wrap-Up

• Jane thanks Jacob and underscores the stakes: keeping elections honest and accessible is a technical and procedural challenge, one now under clear political threat.

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Notable Quotes

• Greg Abbott (Texas Governor, on Fox News):
  “The Supreme Court just applied a principle that most Americans already understood…there cannot be racial discrimination.” [01:27]
• Jacob Knudsen (Democracy Docket):
  “It’s a very obscure and technical committee, but it’s incredibly important to American democracy.” [03:29]
  “One of [the election officials next to me] described the blocks as ‘fucking crazy.’” [04:09]
  “Developing new voting system standards is a very slow and deliberative process…even minor changes can have cascading effects…” [06:33]
  “If you are gutting the committee that works on this stuff, yeah, it’s very counterintuitive…” [08:21]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:03 – Show intro, SCOTUS/Louisiana redistricting case
• 01:27 – Greg Abbott defends SCOTUS decision
• 03:09 – Jane welcomes Jacob Knudsen
• 03:29 – Importance of TGDC explained
• 04:09 – Revelation of expert appointment blocks and officials’ reaction
• 05:50 – Immediate and long-term consequences of committee dysfunction
• 07:12 – Unprecedented nature and source of appointment blocks
• 08:01 – Issue of Trump’s contradictory actions on voting machinery
• 08:57 – Segment closes

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Tone & Language

• Jane Coaston: Clear, analytical, and occasionally wry or sardonic (e.g., “which is not the gay national anthem, as we’ve discussed.”). She’s also unflinching in highlighting contradictions and holding power to account.
• Jacob Knudsen: Technical, precise, and concerned—offering expert yet accessible explanations and expressing genuine alarm at the unprecedented political maneuvers.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode provides crucial insight into a stealthy but significant threat to U.S. election integrity: the political obstruction of expert oversight of voting technology. Jane Coaston and Jacob Knudsen expose how technically-minded, historically nonpartisan work is now being undermined at the highest levels—with potential downstream effects for every voter in America.

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Transcript

[A]

It's Monday, May 4th. I'm Jane Coston and this is what a day. The show that just learned it has something in common with first lady Melania Trump via President Donald Trump speaking in Florida on Friday. And she hates when I dance, too. At the end, too. She hates when I dance to what's sometimes referred to as the gay national anthem. You know that she hates it. I also hate when he dances to YMCA by the Village People, which is not the gay national anthem, as we've discussed. The gay national anthem is Dancing on My Own by Robin. On today's show. The war in Iran that wasn't a war but became a war is currently not a war, according to the Trump administration. And grab a glass. We're pouring one out for Spirit Airlines. But let's start with voting. Republicans spent their weekend defending last week's Supreme Court decision that struck down a Louisiana congressional map. It's a decision that in effect, could entirely defang the power of the Voting Rights act, which ensures that states cannot redistrict nonwhite voters out of political power. But on Fox News Sunday, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott told host Maria Bartiromo that the decision was actually great for Americans because it'll help us hire members of Congress more fairly.

[B]

The Supreme Court just applied a principle that most Americans already understood, and that is, for example, in a hiring decision in the United States, everybody knows an employer cannot engage in racial discrimination. Now, the court is just making clear that that same hiring decision, when voters hire who their member of Congress is going to be, there cannot be racial discrimination. The fact of the matter is, for decades, the Democrats have been using racial discrimination to draw these crazily drawn lines.

[A]

Discrimination against minority voters, on the other hand, is apparently fine, provided you don't make that discrimination too explicit. The Supreme Court decision is big news. But there are tons of ways that the Trump administration and the GOP are trying to make it harder for you to vote. Take the Technical Guidelines Development Committee, or tgdc. It's supposed to be a non partisan federal committee that determines the standards for voting equipment used in elections across the country. The those standards are known as the voluntary voting system guidelines, and they're intended to keep our election safe and secure, something I thought Donald Trump was very worried about. But back in April, a group of election officials sounded the alarm. The Trump administration has been blocking new appointees to the TGDC and won't say why. Without those experts in place, we could see voting machines that are more likely to get breached by hackers or just plain don't work. And that's a big, big concern. With midterm elections just a few months away and with the Trump White House looking to, quote, take over how Americans vote. So to explain what's going on with our nation's voting apparatus, I spoke to Jacob Knudsen. He's a reporter at Democracy Docket. We talked before the Supreme Court announced its decision in Louisiana versus Calais. Jacob Knudsen, welcome to what a day.

[C]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

You read about some serious problems with a committee I had never heard of before, the Technical Guidelines Development Committee. Before we get into the issues, what is this committee supposed to do for American democracy?

[C]

Yeah, so it's a somewhat. Well, I would say it's a very obscure.

[A]

Yeah, it's real obscure, Jacob.

[C]

It's a very obscure and technical committee, but it's incredibly important to American democracy. It's made up of experts on, you know, the nuts and bolts of democracy. These experts who include, you know, election officials, engineers, disability advocates, they help the US Election Assistance Commission come up with the standards and guidance to certify voting systems used in all US Elections.

[A]

What struck me was that in your article in Democracy Docket, you showed that experts who would normally get on this committee, the experts you were just talking about, are being blocked. What's happening and who is blocking them?

[C]

I went to EAC meetings in Chicago where election officials across the country learned that the Trump administration was suddenly blocking all pending appointments to the Technical gu Guidelines Development Committee. This committee we're talking about, without explanation, they have been left completely in the dark about, about these blocks. And it shocked many of the officials there. One of them next to me described the blocks as fucking crazy. So anyway, it was so shocking because this really has never happened in the committee's two decade history. These rejections also come at a time when the EAC is attempting to implement parts of Trump's anti voting executive order which demand changes to voting machine standards.

[A]

Just to clarify, is this blocking of experts happening across the board? So it's. No one is being appointed or are they only permitting experts from states or institutions Trump likes?

[C]

So it's a little unclear at this point if the blocks have been completely, you know, across the board, blanket or if they've been selective. The election officials in Chicago were told that they were blanket. Some of the organizations that are supposed to have representation on this, on this committee that I reached out to, they haven't received confirmation on whether their appointees have been blocked or confirmed. You know, one of the officials who were who were blocked. Her name is Mandy Vigil. She is a New Mexico state election official. She was blocked and she happens to be a Democrat. So it appears to be politically motivated.

[A]

Yeah, that doesn't look good. But let's get into the consequences of all of this. Starting relatively short term, what could this mean for, say, the midterms we're going to see in November, or looking a little further out for the 2028 presidential election? If these experts aren't appointed, does that mean the committee just doesn't exist? Like, what does this all mean?

[C]

Yeah, so the committee still has a working quorum by, like, a hair. So it's still able to function and still able to offer the EAC expertise on voting machine standards. In the short term, it's an extraordinary violation of procedure that the federal government hasn't explained to its state partners. For the long term, this could lead to the adoption of bad policy by design. Developing new voting system standards is a very slow and deliberative process because, you know, even minor changes can have cascading effects that impacts voters with specific needs. So, like, a good example is the US Access Board is a federal agency that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities. By law, it is supposed to have two representatives on the committee, and it currently has zero formal representatives. And that's really concerning when we're talking about voting.

[A]

Right. You mentioned that the state's don't have to take the EAC's advice, but that they generally do. Is this the first time that something like this has happened? Has it been pretty much like a nonpartisan, bipartisan effort for the last 20 years or so?

[C]

So as far as I can tell, this has never, ever happened before. And it's a little. It's. It's really unclear at this point who exactly is making the final decisions on the rejections. Officials in Chicago last week said they came from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is a part of the Commerce Department. But it appears that these approvals were pending before the Commerce Department's Office of the White House Liaison, which is, you know, a direct connection between the Commerce Department and White House.

[A]

So that gets me to President Trump, a president who claimed that rigged voting machines are to blame for his losing back in 2020, and now he's interrupting the process of updating and improving said machines. In your view, is this a move of a president who's, like, crazy clever or a move that's weirdly counterproductive to a scheme to somehow help Trump and his party?

[C]

I think it's really counterproductive and I think it also reflects that he really doesn't understand how these processes work. If you are gutting the committee that that works on this stuff, yeah, it's very counterintuitive. If your aim is to change the voting machine standards, it's a little more technical because the EAC can act even without the recommendation of the committee. But then the EAC will be acting potentially even against the recommendations of this committee. That would be a very bad look.

[A]

Jacob Knudsen, thank you so much for joining me.

[C]

Thank you for having me and talking about very, very obscure federal entities.

[A]

That was my conversation with Jacob Knudsen, reporter at Democracy Docket. We'll link to his piece in the show Notes we absolutely want your vote of approval and you can give it to us by subscribing, leaving a five star review on Spotify and Apple podcasts, watching us on YouTube and sharing with your friends. More to come after some ads what a day is brought to you by Aura Frames Aura Frames is the perfect gift for the people you love most. I love giving the people I care about Aura Frames. It's a gift that feels like it keeps giving almost every day watching my friends and family add new photos to their frames and share some of their best memories. 10 out of 10 in my opinion. With Aura Frames you get free unlimited storage. Add as many photos and videos as you want and you can preload photos before it ships. Keep adding from anywhere anytime. Auraframes the Perfect Gift Every time Named one by Wirecutter. You can save on the Perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $25 off their best selling Carver Mat frame with code wade. That's auraframes.com, promo code wad. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Water Day is brought to you by Fast Growing Trees. Did you know? Fast Growing Trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants and over 2 million happy customers. They have all the plants your yard or home needs, including fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs and houseplants, all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy. It's like your local nursery, but anywhere you live with more plants than you'll find anywhere else. Whatever you're looking for, Fast Growing Trees helps you find options that actually work for your climate, space and lifestyle. Fast Growing Trees makes it easy to get your dream yard. Just click, order, grow and get healthy, thriving plants delivered to your door. Their alive and thrive guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy. No green thumb required, just quality plants you can count on. Plus, get ongoing support from trained plant experts who can help you plan your landscape, choose the right plants and learn how to care for them every step of the way. My husband and I love giving gifts from fast growing trees. Our trees always show up happy, healthy and ready to thrive. Right now they have great deals on spring planting essentials up to half off on select plants and listeners to our show get 20% off their first purchase when using the code Watt at checkout. That's an additional 20% off. Better plants and better growing at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code WATT at checkout fastgrowingtrees.com code WAAD now's the perfect time to plant. Let's grow together. Use WAD to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply.

[D]

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[A]

Tequas Almes here's what else we're following today. Head of Lines the war in Iran has now lasted more than 60 days, and after 60 days, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states that the US has to withdraw forces if Congress hasn't, quote, authorized hostilities. Which is probably why Trump sent Congress a letter Friday saying that the 60 day clock stopped on April 7th because that's when the, quote, ceasefire began and he doesn't need their approval after all. So now, according to the Trump administration, we are now not actually at war with Iran. Here's Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaking with Kristen Welker on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday. Is the United States at war with Iran?

[E]

No.

[B]

What President Trump said this weekend is absolutely true. My job as the acting attorney general is to make sure that the president that we all are doing the right thing legally, and we absolutely are.

[A]

I like how he both answered the question and also tried not to. On Sunday, Trump announced that an effort called Project Freedom will start today to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. On Truth Social, he said he wanted to help Quote, neutral and innocent countries, so, quote, they can freely and ably get on with their business. New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia Navarro went to Maine to sit down with Tucker Carlson for a lengthy interview published over the weekend. And, boy, did it go a lot of different directions. Navarro pressed Carlson on his relationship with President Trump, his friendly interview with white nationalist online guy Nick Fuentes, and his views on how the media, including him, apparently uses race as a distraction. It got strange.

[E]

You spend a day with Trump and sort of like you're in this kind of dreamland. It's like smoking hash or something. It's interesting, very interesting. And there may be a supernatural component to it. I'm not a theologian, but it's real. And anyone who's been around him can tell you it's real. Who do you think is more morally repulsive? Ted Cruz.

[A]

Who do you think is more morally repulsive?

[E]

Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz is a sitting US Senator who has called for the killing of people who did nothing wrong. Whole populations who advocated for this war. Nick Fuentes is like a kid. He's like 26 or 70. He has no power except his words. Here you have a public official who we pay, who has actual power, who's voting for things, who's making policy decisions, and those decisions would include, in fact, they are focused on the murder of people who did nothing wrong. And yet no one thinks it's a big deal. Well, this is totally fine. Nick Fuentes said something naughty that I disagreed with. He made fun of things that I don't think I would never make fun of. He's a white nationalist who's denied the Holocaust.

[A]

I am personally very uncomfortable with Carlson's view that Holocaust denial by a guy who once compared interracial marriage to a man having sex with a dog is simply naughty.

[E]

And then I noticed, and this is measurable, actually, by Alexa search of New York Times stories that the term racist races, racism, white supremacy, those exploded in New York Times stories, and not just the New York Times, but the rest of the legacy media. And my interpretation of this fact is that the media was used to distract the population with reasons. Part of the media, Tucker. Well, I've already. I've already said I have been part of many distractions. Took me a long time to recognize this.

[A]

What did I learn from all of this? Personally, I do not think that I would feel as if I were in a, quote, dreamland if I spent all day with Donald Trump. Maybe I'm just built different. Spirit Airlines, America's second worst airline, according to the department of transportation shut down on Saturday in part due to the increase in oil prices as a result of Trump's war in Iran. The Trump administration had floated a bailout of the airline, but that reportedly fell through despite Trump saying on Friday that discussions between Spirit and the White House were continuing. Thousands of flights were canceled over the weekend, leaving passengers stranded across the country. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told Fox News Maria Bartiromo that he knew the real culprit. The treasury was supposed to be doing a deal to save this company. Can you tell us what happened?

[F]

Sure, Maria. So this is just more of the mess we inherited from the Biden administration. Elizabeth Warren, who loves to write letters, sent, sent a letter to the Justice Department, to the labor, to the Transport Department, saying that they should oppose a merger with Spirit Airlines. JetBlue wanted to buy them for $3.8 billion. If JetBlue had merged with Spirit, we would have all, all these jobs that were lost. Yesterday we had 30 airport, 30 regional airports who have lost service. And I can tell you what happened here. It wasn't treasury, it was Commerce that was trying to put the something together. But the reason we were here was because the merger, the Biden administration opposed the merger.

[A]

Maybe don't send your most nervous administration official to try and explain why Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is not responsible for an airline. He suggested bailing out, ultimately shutting down. And that's the news. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review. Trump's approval is plummeting. And tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how. According to a new Washington Post poll, Trump's approval on inflation is 27% and his approval on the cost of living is just 23%. Like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and [e-mail] subscribe I'm Jane Coston and I have a basic if you have an approval rating that's low enough to stay on its parent's health insurance plan, that's not good. Water Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.