Featured Image: yourNEWS Media Illustration
War Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed U.S. military cyber and intelligence agencies to make protection of the Nov. 3 midterm elections from foreign interference a priority, calling election security a “no-fail mission” while limiting the directive to authorized cyber and intelligence operations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
War Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command and several of the military’s largest intelligence agencies to prioritize detecting and countering foreign attempts to interfere with the November midterm elections, mobilizing existing cyber, intelligence and interagency capabilities ahead of Election Day.
The directive was issued Sept. 22 in a one-page memorandum titled “Countering Foreign Threats to 2026 Elections” and was first reported by Axios on Monday.
The order is addressed to the commander of U.S. Cyber Command and the directors of the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, placing some of the federal government’s most sophisticated intelligence and cyber capabilities behind the effort.
“Commander U.S. Cyber Command and the Directors of the Combat Support Agencies will prioritize the use of DoW intelligence and cyber capabilities to ensure foreign actors do not meddle in our democratic systems,” Hegseth wrote.
The memorandum establishes three primary areas of action.
The Defense Intelligence Enterprise is directed to collect and produce intelligence concerning foreign threats to the elections while operating “in accordance with the law, regulation, Executive direction, and DoW policies and directives.”
Cyber Command is separately instructed to use its existing legal authorities to counter cyber threats posed by foreign actors and coordinate those activities with the Department of Homeland Security.
Hegseth also instructed the agencies to devote their authorized intelligence resources to detecting broader foreign efforts to influence or interfere with the American electoral process. Axios reported that officials expect the operation to employ advanced cyber capabilities and artificial intelligence.
The directive describes election protection as a “no-fail mission” and orders agencies to “mobilize every authorized asset, capability, and partnership” against what Hegseth characterized as “foreign malign influence.”
The stated objective is to protect election infrastructure and allow lawful voters to participate without foreign intimidation, coercion or fear.
Hegseth’s memorandum also cites President Donald Trump’s statement that “free and fair elections are the foundation of our republic.”
The order does not direct military personnel to polling locations and does not authorize the National Guard or other forces to seize voting equipment, according to Axios. Its operational instructions focus instead on intelligence gathering, cyber defense and the disruption of foreign cyber activity.
Trump has separately declined to categorically rule out a military presence at polling locations. That issue is not authorized by the Sept. 22 directive and has drawn concern from some Democratic lawmakers and other critics of the administration.
The new order builds on a federal election-security mission that has developed over several administrations as foreign governments and affiliated actors have increasingly used hacking, influence operations and other digital methods to target U.S. elections.
According to Axios, the directive draws in part from Trump’s 2025 executive order on election integrity. Officials also said it was developed after Trump alleged in a July speech that China interfered in the 2020 presidential election. Beijing denied that accusation.
The military’s involvement in defending elections from foreign cyber operations predates the current administration.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections under President Joe Biden, U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA were similarly tasked with taking action to “disrupt, deter, and degrade foreign adversaries’ ability to interfere with and influence how U.S. citizens vote and how those votes are counted.”
That mission illustrates a distinction between domestic election administration and military cyber operations directed at foreign adversaries.
State and local governments administer elections inside the United States. Cyber Command and military intelligence organizations can operate within their existing authorities against foreign governments, foreign intelligence services, cyber organizations and other overseas actors seeking to interfere with those elections.
Cyber Command and the NSA have historically coordinated much of that work through a joint Election Security Group.
The two agencies have operated such a group during every federal election cycle since 2018, combining intelligence collection with defensive and offensive cyber capabilities aimed at identifying and disrupting foreign operations before they can affect U.S. election systems or voters.
Whether that organizational structure is operating in the same form for the 2026 midterms has remained unclear.
In April, Army Gen. Joshua Rudd, who leads both U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he did not know at the time whether an Election Security Group had been formally established for the current election cycle.
Former Cyber Command officials subsequently said such groups traditionally would have been operating by that point in an election year.
Hegseth’s September memorandum does not state whether the Election Security Group has since been activated.
It instead places responsibility directly on Cyber Command and the military intelligence agencies to use capabilities already available to them.
The directive also calls for coordination with other levels and branches of government. Pentagon officials told Axios that federal, state and local authorities are working with Cyber Command and defense intelligence organizations to identify and counter foreign threats.
“This is what CYBERCOM does every day,” an administration official told Axios in describing the mission. “Defending the country against foreign cyber actors is an enduring mission.”
The election-security effort comes as cyber operations have become an increasingly routine component of national defense.
Foreign governments can attempt to affect elections in several ways, ranging from penetrating political organizations and election-related computer networks to stealing information, creating fraudulent online personas, spreading covert propaganda or attempting to undermine public confidence in election systems.
Not every foreign influence effort involves changing votes or penetrating voting machines. Intelligence agencies have increasingly treated online influence, cyber espionage and attacks on election infrastructure as separate but potentially overlapping threats.
Hegseth’s directive instructs the military organizations to concentrate specifically on foreign actors, rather than domestic political activity.
That limitation is significant because military intelligence operations inside the United States are constrained by federal law, executive directives and internal rules. Hegseth explicitly conditioned intelligence collection on compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
The order arrives roughly five weeks before the Nov. 3 election, compressing the remaining period for intelligence agencies to detect developing foreign operations and take action before voters cast their ballots.
It also places the 2026 effort within a continuing federal strategy rather than creating an entirely new military role in elections.
Cyber Command and the NSA have conducted election-security missions across multiple presidential administrations, including during the 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 election cycles. Hegseth’s order formally directs the military and its intelligence agencies to make that mission a priority again in 2026.
What remains unspecified is the exact operational structure the agencies will use, whether the traditional Election Security Group has been reestablished and what particular foreign threats have prompted concern during the current cycle.
The memorandum nevertheless gives Cyber Command, the NSA, DIA and NGA a clear directive ahead of Election Day: use their legally authorized intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify and counter foreign efforts to interfere with the American electoral process.
Comments