Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo Monday laying out what he said is the Defense Department’s plan to protect the 2026 midterm elections from “external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors.”
The one-page directive outlines how the Pentagon’s intelligence and cyber capabilities will be employed to ward off any foreign attempts to impact the November contests.
Much of the attention focuses on the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Enterprise, or DIE, the network of intelligence and counterintelligence functions inside the Defense Department.
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“Freedom does not happen by accident. It requires constant vigilance, and today, that responsibility falls heavily on the DIE,” Mr. Hegseth wrote in the memo. “I am therefore directing the entire DIE to mobilize every authorized asset, capability, and partnership under your command 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. In America, the people rule — and we must ensure that their voice remains sovereign, secure, and entirely undiluted.”
The memo also directs U.S. Cyber Command to work with the Department of Homeland Security to counter any potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting the American election.
“U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency are closely partnered to identify and defend against cyber threats to our nation. The command and the agency regularly counter actions by malicious foreign cyber actors including those with the intent to interfere with our democratic process,” Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, the commander of Cyber Command and director of the NSA, said in a statement.
The memo from Mr. Hegseth comes at a moment when some critics argue the Trump administration is trying to influence the midterm results in Republicans’ favor. For example, President Trump has been outspoken in saying that mail voting is susceptible to fraud because ballots could be tampered with after they leave a polling place.
Mr. Trump’s opponents accuse him of trying to suppress mail voters, who tend to vote more heavily Democratic.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
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