Hegseth Orders NSA and Military Cyber Forces to Guard US Election Systems as Critics Call Move 'Theater'

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency and other U.S. military intelligence and cybersecurity forces will guard the nation's election systems during the November midterm elections, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday.

In a memo dated Sept. 22 and made public Monday, Hegseth directed defense intelligence officials to mobilize every resource "to defend our election infrastructure from foreign malign influence and ensure that every lawful voter can cast their ballot free from foreign intimidation, coercion, or fear."

The announcement comes just weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3, with early voting already underway in parts of the country.

Routine role, unusual timing

Military cybersecurity experts have routinely helped monitor election systems and deter potential hackers since the federal government designated election equipment as "critical infrastructure" in 2017. The designation, made in the final days of the Obama administration after Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, placed election systems alongside sectors such as energy, water and financial services as priorities for federal protection.

Since then, the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command have worked together to identify and disrupt foreign threats to American elections. The two agencies formed a joint Election Security Group that has led the Defense Department's election security efforts across multiple election cycles, tracking attempts by foreign adversaries such as Russia, China and Iran to interfere with voting or influence voters.

But Hegseth's announcement comes after President Donald Trump gutted the civilian agency specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure: the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

CISA has traditionally served as the main federal point of contact for state and local election officials, providing vulnerability scans, threat information, physical security assessments and other services. The Trump administration sharply reduced the agency's election security work in early 2025, cutting staff and programs that supported state and local officials.

Last week, CISA released an election infrastructure security plan that outlines potential threats to election systems and lists services it would offer election officials to protect the vote.

'Just theater,' critic says

Some election experts questioned the timing of both announcements, which arrive after voters in some states have already begun casting ballots.

The short timeline "suggests this is just theater," said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.

"If the administration was serious about assisting state and local election officials, they shouldn't have dismantled all of the federal government's election cybersecurity capacity and fired all their experts in early 2025," Becker said.

Election officials typically spend months, or even years, preparing security measures ahead of a major election, including testing equipment, training staff and coordinating with federal partners. Critics say last-minute federal announcements leave little time to integrate new support into those plans.

Concerns about federal involvement

Although cybersecurity assistance from the NSA and Cyber Command is routine, many election experts, civil rights groups and Democratic election officials say they are watching closely for signs of meddling in voting or ballot counting by the Trump administration.

The president has continued to push false claims that U.S. elections are rife with fraud, while also trying to change longstanding election procedures. Trump has signed two executive orders seeking to nationalize certain aspects of how elections are run, moves that have drawn legal challenges from Democrats and voting rights groups.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked an attempt by Trump to restrict mail voting but has allowed the use of a federal database to check the citizenship of voters.

Under the U.S. Constitution, elections are administered primarily by states and local governments, with federal agencies typically playing a supporting role. The prospect of military and intelligence agencies taking a more visible role has raised questions among some officials about the boundaries of federal involvement, even as the Pentagon frames its mission as defending against foreign threats.

Hegseth's memo focuses on foreign interference, and the Defense Department has not indicated that military personnel would have any role in counting ballots or operating polling places.

Foreign threats persist

U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that foreign adversaries may try to interfere in American elections through hacking, disinformation and influence campaigns aimed at sowing division and undermining confidence in the results.

In past election cycles, federal officials have publicly identified efforts by Russia, Iran and China to spread misleading information online, target campaigns or probe election-related computer systems. Officials have also warned that artificial intelligence tools could make it easier for foreign actors to create convincing fake content aimed at misleading voters.

State and local election officials have increasingly relied on a mix of federal support, private-sector partners and their own cybersecurity teams to protect voter registration databases, election night reporting websites and other systems.

In some states, National Guard cyber units have also assisted local officials with network assessments and security reviews around elections.

High-stakes midterms

The Nov. 3 midterm elections will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump's term. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the Senate are on the ballot, along with numerous governor's races and state and local contests.

The elections are being held amid heightened political tensions and ongoing disputes over voting rules, including fights over mail voting, voter roll maintenance and citizenship verification.

Election officials in many states have said they are prepared for the vote and have urged voters to rely on official state and local sources for information about when, where and how to cast their ballots.

It remains unclear how the Pentagon's role will be coordinated with CISA and with state and local election officials in the final weeks before Election Day. The Defense Department did not immediately provide further details about the scope of the mission or how many personnel would be involved.

Election officials and voting rights advocates are expected to watch closely for how federal agencies carry out their responsibilities through Election Day and during the counting and certification of results.