The Standing Record

This is the Standing Record for July 10, 2026. We recorded 4 events from July 9, 2026 that erode our democratic ideals and added 5 more from earlier dates — 143 so far this month, bringing the total archive to 693. If you saw something happen — yesterday, or any other day — that belongs here, send it to our tip line.

Trump removed the remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, leaving it unable to act before the 2026 midterms

Event: July 9, 2026 Location: Washington, D.C. Jurisdiction: Federal Abuses: Executive overreach, Dismantling agency capacity

On July 9, 2026, President Trump terminated the two remaining Democratic members of the independent, bipartisan Election Assistance Commission — chair Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — who were notified by email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, while the sole remaining Republican, Christy McCormick, resigned. The removals left the four-member commission with no commissioners and therefore unable to take official action just months before the 2026 midterm elections. The EAC maintains the national mail voter registration form, certifies voting systems, and provides guidance to state and local election officials.

People & Organizations: - Donald Trump (President)

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/07/09/federal-executive-overreach-dcaacea4/ Primary source: Trump fires Election Assistance Commission members, leaving agency unable to act

Trump administration appointed climate-science critic Matthew Wielicki to head reconstituted U.S. Global Change Research Program

Event: July 9, 2026 Location: Washington, D.C. Jurisdiction: Federal Abuses: Politicized science appointments, Suppression of government data

On July 9, 2026, the Trump administration reconstituted the U.S. Global Change Research Program — the interagency body that produces the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment — and placed it under Matthew Wielicki, a former University of Alabama geochemist who describes himself as a "professor in exile" and routinely disputes mainstream climate science. The program's office had been closed and its website taken dark in mid-2025; Wielicki will now oversee the coordination of federal climate research across more than a dozen agencies.

People & Organizations: - Trump Administration

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/07/09/federal-politicized-science-appointments-6d3bb474/ Primary source: The administration has a new climate change office. It's headed by a climate critic.

MS NOW investigation reveals DOJ appointees overruling career antitrust lawyers to clear corporate mergers

Event: July 9, 2026 Location: Washington, D.C. Jurisdiction: Federal Abuses: Selective non-enforcement, Dismantling agency capacity

MS NOW reported on July 9, 2026 that Trump administration political appointees at the Justice Department's Antitrust Division have been overruling career staff attorneys who proposed lawsuits or deeper merger reviews, moving instead to clear pending deals without standard scrutiny. Two sources named Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward as the primary driver of the non-enforcement push, reporting corroborated the following day by Bloomberg's separate account of DOJ leadership stalling a challenge to an aerospace-industry merger.

People & Organizations: - Stanley Woodward (Associate Attorney General) - U.S. Department of Justice

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/07/09/federal-selective-non-enforcement-9ac6263d/ Primary source: Trump appointees are overruling DOJ lawyers scrutinizing corporate mergers

Florida renamed Palm Beach International Airport for President Trump under a law giving his company perpetual free use of the name

Event: July 9, 2026 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Jurisdiction: State Abuses: Self-dealing, Monetizing office

On July 9, 2026, Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida — a county-owned public airport serving more than 8 million passengers a year, minutes from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate — officially became President Donald J. Trump International Airport, the first U.S. airport renamed for a sitting president. The renaming was carried out under a Florida law that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2026, which requires an agreement granting Trump and his organization "perpetual and unrestricted" use of the name at no cost. Trump's trademark-licensing company, DTTM Operations, had filed multiple applications on the new name in February 2026, before the enabling bill became law.

People & Organizations: - Ron DeSantis (Governor of Florida) - Florida Legislature - DTTM Operations LLC (Trump-affiliated trademark licensor)

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/07/09/fl-self-dealing-2c98ee75/ Primary source: Florida's Palm Beach airport renamed for Trump

Filling out the archive

We're steadily backfilling the archive — working backward through the record so the timeline is complete, not just current. These are older events we archived yesterday. If you know of something from months or years back that belongs here, send it to our tip line.

• March 15, 2025 — Hegseth shared classified Yemen strike plans in a Signal chat that inadvertently included a journalist
• April 20, 2025 — Hegseth shared Yemen strike details in a second Signal chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer
• May 5, 2025 — White House used unvetted TeleMessage Signal clone for records after Signalgate; May 2025 hack exposed CBP staff data
• June 30, 2026 — FOIA showed Rubio, Hegseth, Caine, Vance and Lutnick kept using auto-deleting Signal chats after Trump's Signalgate warning
• July 8, 2026 — Trump declared Iran ceasefire over and ordered a third round of strikes defying the bicameral war-powers resolution

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