Hegseth orders military to defend midterm elections from foreign interference

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum on September 22 directing the U.S. military to defend the November midterm elections from foreign interference, the Pentagon announced Monday. U.S. Cyber Command, the military's cyberwarfare unit, and combat support agencies will "deploy advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities" to "identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference in U.S. democratic processes," the department said in a news release.

The memo instructs the command to work with the Department of Homeland Security to counter foreign cyber threats to U.S. election infrastructure. It is addressed to the leaders of Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and calls protecting elections a "no-fail mission." It does not identify specific adversaries, announce additional staffing or funding, or set implementation deadlines.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department would work "in lockstep" with federal, state and local partners. Gen. Joshua Rudd, who commands Cyber Command and directs the NSA, described countering malicious foreign cyber actors as an ongoing mission, noting this is not the first time military cyber personnel have worked on election threats. The directive does not order troops to polling stations or change how elections are administered by state and local officials.

The announcement comes as the second Trump administration has disbanded or downsized several federal centers tasked with repelling foreign influence operations, including the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, prompting concern among current and former national security officials that election defense was not being prioritized, CNN reported.