WASHINGTON, July 17 - President Donald Trump's administration spent more than a year scrutinizing the federal agency that oversees U.S. voting systems, questioning its handling of the 2020 presidential election and vetting potential new leaders before he fired its commissioners last week, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and two people familiar with the discussions.

The previously unreported effort sheds light on the Republican Trump's push to exert greater influence over federal elections after years of disputing his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

The Election Assistance Commission, a little-known bipartisan agency that helps test and certify voting systems, could play a central role as the administration presses for voting and election-administration changes ahead of November's midterm elections. Republicans say the measures would bolster election security, but Democrats argue they are aimed at restricting voter access.

In a speech on Thursday, the president revived many of his longstanding claims that U.S. elections are unreliable and vowed to work with states to address alleged vulnerabilities in election systems before voters head to the polls.

QUESTIONS ABOUT AGENCY ROLE IN MIDTERM PUSH

"If you look at voting today, it's in such bad shape in so many states, and we are committing to fix it. And we're also committing to be working with those states and local jurisdictions to help them fix and patch known technical vulnerabilities before the midterm elections," Trump said in his remarks. "We want those elections to be honest."

Trump and the White House have not said what role, if any, they envision for the commission in that effort.

Trump last week fired the agency's two Democratic commissioners and allowed its lone Republican commissioner to resign, leaving the four-member panel vacant after its other Republican commissioner departed in April.

After the dismissals, the White House said Trump "reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections."