The Defense Department is working to protect US elections

The U.S. National Security Agency and other military intelligence and cybersecurity forces will guard election systems during the November midterms, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday.

Military cybersecurity experts have routinely helped monitor systems and deter potential hackers since election equipment was designated “ critical infrastructure ” in 2017.

But Hegseth's announcement comes after President Donald Trump gutted the civilian agency specifically created to safeguard election infrastructure, a division of the Department of Homeland Security called the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. That agency last week released an election infrastructure security plan that lays out potential threats to election systems and lists services it would offer to election officials to protect the vote.

Both announcements come just weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3 and with early voting already underway. 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.