Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency to prioritize cyber capabilities to prevent foreign actors from interfering in the November midterm elections, the Pentagon said.
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Officials will use military intelligence and cybersecurity to “identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference in U.S. democratic processes,” the Pentagon said in a statement Monday about a dated Sept. 22 that Hegseth sent to Cyber Command, the NSA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
The memo directs the Defense Intelligence Enterprise, which has members from the Defense Department and the NSA, to collect and analyze intelligence on foreign threats to U.S. elections.
“As we approach this election cycle, we must prove that we can and will protect the integrity of our democratic processes from any threat,” the memo said.
Hegseth’s memo was made public five weeks before the Nov. 3 elections. Early voting has already started in some states.
How Can the Military Help Protect Elections?
Foreign interference in elections has become increasingly common.
Cyber Command and the NSA “regularly counter actions by malicious foreign cyber actors including those with the intent to interfere with our democratic process,” Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, who heads Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, said in the statement
The Homeland Security Department in 2017 designated election systems as critical infrastructure following claims that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
Since 2018, the Election Security Group – a shared hub for NSA and Cyber Command officials – has helped counter attacks from Russia, Iran, and other countries.
Cyber Command has deployed teams to expose foreign hacking efforts. Weeks before the 2024 presidential election, it reportedly carried out a secret operation to disrupt Russian hackers from spreading false information, CNN reported in January.
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Election Protection Funding Cut Last Year
The Trump administration in March 2025 cut millions of dollars in federal funding for cybersecurity initiatives that helped state and local officials, The Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security that guards election infrastructure, cut the funding provided to the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
Later in March of last year, Politico reported that election security work in the U.S. performed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was put on hold.
Critics Say Nothing Has Changed
In the memo, Hegseth directed Cyber Command to use its “existing authorities, capabilities and competencies” in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security to prevent foreign meddling in the U.S. midterms. No new capabilities were announced and the memo said nothing about additional staffing or funding.
Critics said the Trump administration has done nothing new.
The memo “merely restates authorities it already has,” Lawrence Norden, vice president of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said in a statement. “I don’t see anything new here, other than it was put out by Secretary Hegseth, which is unusual.”
The administration already reduced the ability of U.S. officials to prevent foreign election meddling, Norden said. He added that Hegseth’s announcement five weeks ahead of the elections raises questions about whether the effort will be effective.
“The administration has gutted the capabilities of key agencies to track foreign operations and to coordinate information sharing and responses to such operations with local election officials,” Norden said. “This memo doesn’t change that fact, and there is nothing in its contents that leads me to believe there will be an operational impact from it.”
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