Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Pentagon cyber and intelligence forces to disrupt foreign election interference ahead of the midterms, expanding Trump’s push to secure the vote.
Axios reported that Hegseth authorized a Sept. 22 memo assigning personnel to use advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference in upcoming U.S. elections.
The order does not send troops to polling places or seize voting machines. It puts U.S. Cyber Command, the Defense Intelligence Enterprise, and combat support agencies on a clear mission: keep foreign actors from meddling in democratic systems.
Hegseth’s memo rests on President Trump’s 2025 order, “Preserving And Protecting The Integrity Of American Elections.” Officials say the effort will deploy the most advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to date against foreign cyber threats.
That focus tracks a long-running national concern. For the past decade, foreign election interference has drawn biennial attention from federal agencies. In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security designated elections as critical infrastructure, raising the federal role in spotting outside threats.
The memo lays out three related directives. First, prioritize the department’s intelligence and cyber capabilities under U.S. Cyber Command and the directors of the combat support agencies so foreign actors do not meddle in democratic systems.
Second, use the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to collect and produce information on foreign threats to elections, in accordance with the law, regulation, and executive direction. Third, counter potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting elections through joint operations between U.S. Cyber Command and the Department of Homeland Security.
Breitbart reported that Hegseth said the NSA and other military intelligence and cybersecurity forces will guard election systems during the November midterms, directing officials to mobilize every resource against foreign malign influence.
In the memo language highlighted by that coverage, 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.”
Military cybersecurity experts have routinely helped monitor systems since the 2017 critical-infrastructure designation. Hegseth’s order sharpens that standing mission for the midterm cycle rather than inventing a new one from scratch.
An official described the work in plain terms. “This is what CYBERCOM does every day,” the official said. “Defending the country against foreign cyber actors is an enduring mission.”
Lt. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, Trump’s pick to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, told senators during his confirmation hearing that such work was “fundamental” and that he would continue to “safeguard” American democracy.
Rudd also said U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA “regularly counter actions by malicious foreign cyber actors, including those with the intent to interfere with our democratic process.”
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said federal, state, and local officials are working “in lockstep” with U.S. Cyber Command and defense intelligence teams to halt foreign interference and attacks.
Just The News reported that Hegseth signed a memorandum directing a whole-of-government defense of elections against foreign adversaries, prioritizing Cyber Command and combat support agencies to identify, disrupt, and neutralize interference while protecting fundamental American freedoms.
"By working in lockstep with federal, state, and local partners, U.S. Cyber Command and our defense intelligence teams will defend the integrity of America's voting systems, expose foreign malign influence, and ensure our democratic processes remain secure from external manipulation while protecting the fundamental freedoms of the American people," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
That statement matches the memo’s stated purpose: fight foreign interference and uphold democratic freedoms without turning the military into a domestic election police force.
Readers tracking Hegseth’s broader tenure will note ongoing Capitol Hill scrutiny of Pentagon leadership, including cases where Republican senators openly questioned his approach during the long-running Iran conflict.
The memo was drafted in response to Trump’s July speech accusing China of interfering in the 2020 election. China denied the charge. The document relies on the president’s 2025 order titled “Preserving And Protecting The Integrity Of American Elections.”
The Washington Examiner reported that War Secretary Pete Hegseth is mobilizing the Pentagon’s cybersecurity and intelligence resources to protect against foreign interference in the 2026 midterm elections, directing the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to investigate foreign threats and Cyber Command to counter cyber threats with DHS.
Hegseth wrote in the memo released Monday: “As we approach this election cycle, we must prove that we can and will protect the integrity of our democratic processes from any threat.”
He also said the Pentagon will “wield its capabilities to protect and uphold the reliability of America’s voting mechanisms against external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors.”
Those lines put the burden on foreign actors, not on American voters or state election officials running lawful ballots.
Separate fights over defense policy have also moved on Capitol Hill, from a House Iran war powers resolution that split seven Republicans to contractor and base-security debates that sit in the same Pentagon portfolio.
Hegseth’s order does not direct military personnel to the polls. The latest memo does not direct the National Guard or any military personnel to seize voting machines.
That distinction matters. After the 2020 loss, Trump allies shared a memo asking the president to use DoD and NSA “unprocessed raw signals data” to investigate election fraud. Officials named in that memo denied seeing it at the time. Trump had inquired about ordering the National Guard to seize voting machines and later told the New York Times he regretted not doing so.
This September directive stays on foreign cyber and intelligence threats. It does not revive those earlier domestic machine-seizure proposals.
A similar Biden-era effort before the 2022 midterms directed U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency to “disrupt, deter, and degrade foreign adversaries’ ability to interfere with and influence how U.S. citizens vote and how those votes are counted.” Hegseth’s memo continues that foreign-facing lane under new leadership and Trump’s integrity order.
Policy fights over the force itself keep rolling, including when the House approved personal firearms on military bases by a single vote, another marker of how closely Congress watches Pentagon rules that touch personnel and readiness.
While Cyber Command gears up against foreign actors, other federal arms have pressed related integrity work. In January, the FBI seized voter machines used in the 2020 election from Fulton County, Ga., a heavily Democratic-leaning county in a state Trump lost that year.
The Justice Department formally asked 30 state election offices to hold on to records connected to the 2024 election as part of ongoing litigation to review election materials. Portions of DHS staff have been assigned to finding instances of voter fraud and problems in voter rolls.
Trump has proposed cutting the election security budget for CISA, the main DHS component responsible for election security, and staffing at other key posts has been delayed. The Hegseth memo still pairs Cyber Command with DHS for joint operations against foreign cyber threats to elections.
Election hardware and networks remain a national target set. Newer technology since 2020 has only raised the need for specialized teams that can spot and stop foreign intrusion before it reaches a county server or a voter registration system.
Defense industrial policy sits in the same orbit of accountability fights, including moments when Warren and Lee backed Trump’s push to restrict defense contractor stock buybacks, another reminder that taxpayers expect clean priorities from the Pentagon’s vast budget.
The core assignment is specific: use advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference. Memo language prioritizes capabilities “to ensure foreign actors do not meddle in our democratic systems” and to collect information “on foreign threats to our elections, in accordance with the law, regulation, Executive direction.”
It also orders action against “potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting our elections.” Officials frame that as continuity with Cyber Command’s daily work, not a novel domestic deployment.
State and local election officials still run the mechanics of voting. Federal cyber teams are charged with the outside threat. That division keeps the military out of the ballot box and on the foreign adversary problem the public expects the Defense Department to handle.
Hegseth pledged in the memo package to fight foreign interference and uphold democratic freedoms. The test now is execution: whether Cyber Command, the intelligence enterprise, and DHS partners deliver on the Sept. 22 directives before voters head to the polls.
Secure elections start with stopping foreign hackers and influence operations, not with excuses, and not with federal agencies that look the other way.